1700 to 1799

1722 -- New Orleans Gets To Test Its New Levee

September 22-24th: This is the first well documented hurricane to have hit Louisiana. It initially moved through the Lesser Antilles on September 11th, later making landfall west of the Mouth of the Mississippi on the 23rd, then passing through Central Louisiana. This same storm most likely re-curved northeast into South Carolina, as they reported 3 days of flooding rains around the 27th. Hurricane force winds lasted 15 hours beginning on the night of the 22nd. Storm surges were reported to be 3 ft. at Bayou St. John and 8 ft. in the Mississippi River.

Thirty six huts were destroyed during the storm, which included the area hospital. These buildings were hastily constructed in 1717-18 when New Orleans was initially selected to be the capital of the Louisiana Company. The St. Louis church was destroyed. This storm was responsible for moving the old site of Mobile from 27 miles north of the mouth of the Mobile River to its present day site. Ships were reported to have been sunk in the harbor of New Orleans and areas lakes as well. Three pirogues loaded with fowl, corn, and other goods were lost up towards the Tensas.

In 1718, a 3 foot high levee protected New Orleans from both river and tidal overflow. This proved inadequate, as older area settlements used the devastation of New Orleans in the "Great Hurricane of 1722" as final proof of that city's unsuitability as the capital of Louisiana, as it followed a great flood by only 3 years. 

A "rude little fort" was built in the marshes near the Mouth of the Mississippi, a location discovered by Sieur de la Salle in 1682 and inhabited by 1699. It was named La Balize, French for "The Seamark". In 1721, the first lighthouse-type structure, a wooden pyramid rising 62 feet out of the muck, was constructed. It is considered one of the oldest settlements within the current boundaries of Louisiana (Cipra 132-133). 

1740 -- Another Blow To Louisiana

September 23: Hurricane struck Mouth of the Mississippi River. It destroyed a large portion of the crops and left many colonists without shelter. The storm, along with others during the 1740's, removed all traces of the original habitation of La Balize. An island named San Carlos surfaced, and became the new site of the Balize.  

1743 -- Ben Franklin studies the movement of hurricanes

Benjamin Franklin had planned to study a lunar eclipse one evening in September 1743, but the remnants of a hurricane ruined his evening. Though today the concept of storms moving from place to place seems obvious, it wasn't in Franklin's day. Franklin assumed that the northeast winds that battered him in Philadelphia would also cause problems for a friend in Boston. To his surprise, the friend had clear skies for the eclipse and the storm arrived the next day. 

"This puzzled me," he wrote, "because the storm began with us so soon as to prevent an observation; and being a north-east storm, I imagined it must have begun rather sooner in places farther to the north-eastward than it did in Philadelphia." 

His curiosity aroused, Franklin gathered additional details and learned that the storm had moved up the Atlantic seaboard and against the surface winds. Thus science took the first step toward a basic understanding of hurricanes.
 

1749 -- Storm alters Virginia shoreline

A hurricane destroys Fort George, site of present Fort Monroe, Va., and creates Willoughby Spit in Norfolk. According to one record, "A sand spit of 800 acres was washed up."

1752 -- Hurricane devastates Charleston, S.C.

The 17-foot storm surge destroyed the town's fortifications and over 500 homes.

1766 -- Galveston and Southern Louisiana Struck

September 4th: Hurricane strikes Texas coast near Galveston, yet also plays a role in Early Louisiana History. The ship Constante was lost in the storm about 45 miles east of Calcasieu Pass. The nearby bayou was named "Bayu del Constante", or Constance Bayou (Morgan).

September 4th, 1766: Hurricane hits Galveston. A mission named San Augustine de Ahumado, located in what is now considered Chambers County, was destroyed. Storm surges of 7 feet flooded the area. A richly-laden treasure fleet of 5 galleons en route from Vera Cruz to Havana was driven ashore and had to wait many weeks for assistance to come. Fortunately, much of the treasure and people aboard were saved.

1772 -- Alexander Hamilton's Hurricane

August 31st-September 4th, 1772: Hurricane originating near Jamaica on the 28th of August moved north and northwest into the Central Gulf Coast just west of Mobile. Its effects were far reaching. In Pensacola, it destroyed most of the wharves. The most devastation occurred in the vicinity of Mobile and the Pasca Oocola River. All shipping at the Mouth of the Mississippi was driven into the marshes. this included the ship El Principe de Orange from which only 6 survived.

Being on the west side of this storm, the worst inundation occurred at the back of the Chandeleurs, Grand Gozier, and Breton Isles and cut new channels within the islands. New Orleans itself enjoyed a sunny day with light winds. 

1776 -- Storm kills more than 6,000 on Martinique

Hurricane struck New Orleans. Produced some damage. 

1778 -- Louisiana Takes A Beating

October 7-10th: There was a great storm surge that destroyed the establishments of the Balize, Bayou St. John, and Tigouyou in the Louisiana with this late season hurricane. All structures were wiped out of existence. 

1779 -- Again At New Orleans

August 18th: A hurricane made landfall at New Orleans. At that time, Spain had declared war on Great Britain. Almost all of Bernardo de Galvez' ships (Governor of New Orleans) that were to be used to secretly seize the British post at Baton Rouge were grounded or destroyed, thus ruining his plans for invasion until the 27th. The only ship that escaped disaster was El Volante. Some of the ships were found in the middle of woods after the storm!

Wind and rain began on the night of the 17th. Full violence of the storm was attained by 3 am. All houses, piroughs, barges, and boats were decimated; fields were leveled and all crops, stock, and provisions were lost. These included an American Frigate, the Morris.

During this storm, William Dunbar made observations that uncovered the true nature of tropical storms and hurricanes; that they had a progressive forward movement and that the winds revolved around a vortex at the center. His findings were presented to the American Philosophical Society in 1801. 

1779 -- Hurricane affected New Orleans.    

1780 -- Deadliest storm on record hits Caribbean

The Great Hurricane of 1780 claimed an estimated 22,000 lives in the Caribbean and destroyed the British and French fleets. This remains the deadliest hurricane in recorded history.  About 22,000 people died when the storm swept over Martinique, St. Eustatious and Barbados between Oct. 10 and Oct. 16. Thousands of deaths also occurred offshore.  The hurricane struck the Caribbean in the midst of the American Revolution and took a heavy toll on the British and French fleets contesting for control of the area.  British Adm. George Rodney, sailing from New York to the West Indies, had his fleet scattered and damaged by the storm. Arriving at Barbados, he found eight of 12 warships he'd left there a total loss and most of their crews drowned. French ships were also heavily damaged.

August 24th, 1780: A hurricane worse that the August 1779 storm swept over the province of Louisiana striking New Orleans; destroying crops, tearing down buildings and sinking every vessel and boat afloat on the Mississippi River and on area lakes.

It was during this storm that Dunbar noted that tornadoes form around tropical storms and seldom lasted more than 5 to 10 minutes. This was of no comfort to the inhabitants of the area, who were distraught after these two storms and an excessively cold winter followed by a very rainy summer. These residents wrote the Spanish sovereign not to abandon the country regardless of the adverse blows of nature.    

1781 -- Hurricane struck New Orleans.    

1791 -- Texas Is Struct

A hurricane struck the Lower Coast. Padre Island and mainland nearby were submerged. A herd of 50,000 cattle belonging to a Spanish cattle baron drowned in the storm surge (Ellis 21).

1793 -- New Orleans Hit Again...

August : A strong tropical storm hit New Orleans and destroyed unharvested crops and devastated rural sections of the province.    

1794 -- And Again...

August 31-September 1: A hurricane that moved through Cuba on the 27th and 28th of August struck New Orleans on the 31st and produced crop damage. The storm surge moved inland from Balize (Pilottown) westward to the Plaquemines as deep as 10 feet in places, totally engulfing Fort St. Phillip and drowning their chief engineer. Large hail was also noted in the storm; a very unusual event in a hurricane. Nine hours of high winds tormented what is now Avoyelles Parish on September 1st as the storm continued marching northward. Many lives, cattle, and horses perished in the storm.

1800 to 1899

The most intense and the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history occurred during this period as forecasters began to understand the danger of flooding and storm surge.

1900 -- More than 8,000 die after storm washes over Galveston

The nation's deadliest natural disaster, the storm struck with little warning late on Sept. 8. Storm tides of 8 to 15 feet inundated Galveston Island and portions of the nearby Texas coast. The tides were largely responsible for the 8,000 deaths, with some estimates ranging as high as 12,000.

1905 -- Category 4 Hurricane washes out Southeastern Louisiana

1914 -- Season passes with no hurricanes and just one tropical storm

1915 -- Two Category 4 Storms hit Texas and Southeast Louisiana

1919 -- Hurricane strikes Cuba, the Florida Keys and Texas

The category 4 storm arrived at Corpus Christi, Texas, on Sept. 14 with a surge of up to 12 feet, after moving through the Florida Keys. The death toll was estimated at 600 to 900 people.

1926 -- Unnamed Category 4 Hurricane Destroys Miami

1928 -- San Felipe hurricane kills 3,411 in the Caribbean and Florida

After scoring a direct hit on Puerto Rico on Sept. 13, the storm continued through the Bahamas and made landfall near Palm Beach, Fla., on the 16th. At inland Lake Okeechobee the hurricane caused a lake surge of 6 to 9 feet that inundated the area. Some 1,836 people died in Florida, plus 312 in Puerto Rico.

Surprise attack: Coastal residents took cover, but inland the danger was realized too late.
Dates: Sept. 6-20, 1928
Deaths (U.S.): 1,836

When the San Felipe hurricane roared ashore at Palm Beach, Fla., in September 1928, many residents of the Miami area were prepared.  But inland, along Lake Okeechobee, few conceived the disaster that was brewing. 

The storm struck first in Puerto Rico, killing 1,000 people. (In Spanish-speaking areas, it was traditional to name hurricanes for the saint's day on which they hit. The 1928 hurricane hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 13 and become known as the San Felipe hurricane.)

The storm hit Florida about 6 p.m. Sept. 16 with 125 mph winds. For two hours it ripped apart boats and battered homes. But most residents had taken cover, and deaths were few.  Forty miles west, rain filled Lake Okeechobee to the brim, then a wind from the north began pushing tons of lake water to the south. The dikes crumbled, and water rushed onto the swampy farmland. Homes and people were swept away.  Almost 2,000 people perished.

1930 -- September storm leaves thousands dead in the Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, was almost totally destroyed in this hurricane.

1932 -- Unnamed Category 4 Hurricane damages East Texas

1933 -- August storm swamps eastern Virginia

This year was the busiest hurricane season on record with 21 hurricanes and tropical storms.  The worst hurricane to hit Hampton Roads, Va., in modern times came ashore the night of Aug. 22-23, 1933.  With winds of almost 100 mph, the storm pushed a surge of eight feet of water through downtown Norfolk. It ripped apart piers in Yorktown and cottages in Buckroe Beach. Barracks were torn from their foundations at Fort Monroe. 
"It seemed like the end of the world was upon us," Buck Jenkins, a Hampton resident, said in a 1995 interview.  The storm then moved inland and caused havoc in Maryland and other areas of the East Coast.  The storm killed 18 and caused millions in damage.

1935 -- 'Labor Day' hurricane hits Florida Keys

The most intense hurricane to strike the United States was the Labor Day storm of 1935, which killed 408 people in the Florida Keys.  This storm slammed into the keys on Sept. 2, then turned north in the southeastern United States. The wind and tides were responsible for 408 deaths in the Florida Keys, primarily among World War I veterans working in the area. This was the most intense hurricane ever to strike the United States.  People caught in the open were blasted by sand with such force that it stripped away their clothing and ripped at their skin.  The pressure at the center of a hurricane was measured at 892 millibars. Normally, atmospheric pressure at sea level averages about 1,013 millibars.

The only other category 5 hurricane to strike the U.S. coast was Camille, which hit Mississippi in August 1969, then continued north to cause flash floods that killed 154 people in Virginia's mountains. Camille's central pressure was 909 millibars.  Andrew ranks third. Now classified as a category 5 storm, Andrew's central pressure measured 922 millibars.  The most intense storm on record was a typhoon in the northwest Pacific Ocean in October 1979, which logged a central pressure of 870 millibars. Hurricane Gilbert, which struck Mexico in mid-September 1988, is the most intense for the Atlantic basin, with an estimated 888-millibar lowest pressure.

1938 -- New England storm slams Long Island and Connecticut

Known as the "Long Island Express," this powerful storm crashed into New York's Long Island and then went on to batter southern New England. This hurricane struck with little warning and was responsible for 600 deaths.

Long Island Express: Picking up speed as it raced north, the storm was moving forward in excess of 60 mph when it swept over Long Island.
Damage: $3.6 billion
Deaths (US): 600

Since Europeans settled New England in the 1600s, three hurricanes stand out for their destructiveness. The first struck Aug. 14, 1635; the second, on Sept. 23, 1815. The most recent pounded the area Sept. 21, 1938, and took an estimated 600 lives.

Many small coastal towns, fishing villages and beach residents were completely unprepared for the hurricane that hit with 100-mile winds and tidal waves of astounding force.  The tropical storm demolished buildings, isolated communities and marooned thousands of people. It tore up highways, bridges and railroads, ripped down telephone and light wires, and flooded hundreds of square miles of land.

Connecticut, soaked by several days of torrential rain, was hard hit, as were Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.  Amid the gale, fire compounded the hurricane's fury. A 300,000-cubic-foot gas tank exploded in Providence, R.I., and six blazes erupted in New London, Conn., threatening the entire city for 10 hours. Swirling flood waters hampered firemen.

1940 -- Hurricane dumps 31.66 inches of rain on Abbeville, La.

The early August storm claimed 50 lives and caused heavy flooding throughout the Southeast.

1943 -- Pilot flies into hurricane eye

Col. Joseph P. Duckworth becomes the first pilot to fly intentionally into the eye of a hurricane.  On July 17, 1943, Army Air Force Lt. Col. Joseph P. Duckworth flew his single-engine AT-6 trainer into the eye of a category 1 hurricane bearing down on the Texas coast.  His purpose: To prove it could be done.  In his report, he stated, "The only embarrassing episode would have been engine failure, which, with the strong ground winds, would probably have prevented a landing, and certainly would have made descent via parachute highly inconvenient."  Today, NOAA hurricane-hunter planes, and similar propeller-driven models flown by a special Air Force unit out of Mississippi, are flown directly into storms with winds of 150 mph or higher

1944 -- Wartime shipping affected by deadly storm

A powerful early September storm that lashed much of the East Coast. While this hurricane caused 46 deaths in the United States, the worst effects occurred at sea, where it wreaked havoc on World War II shipping. Five ships, including a U.S. Navy destroyer and minesweeper, two U. S. Coast Guard cutters, and a light vessel, were sunk by the storm, causing 344 deaths.

1947 -- Unnamed Category 4 Hurricane drives trough Southwest Louisiana and Texas

Satellites, computer models and improved transportation ushered in the modern era of hurricane forecasting.

1953 -- Forecasters begin giving hurricanes female names

The Editor of DeadlyStorms.com is born

1954 -- Carol and Edna swamp New England

Carol made landfall Aug. 31 over Long Island, N.Y. and Connecticut. Carol was responsible for 60 deaths and $461 million in damage in the United States. The remarkably similar Hurricane Edna formed a few days later and followed a very similar path, making landfall Sept. 10 over Cape Cod. The storm was responsible for 20 deaths.

Swamped: Tides were unusually high, increasing the destruction.
Damage: $2.4 billion
Deaths (US): 60

In August 1954, the Caribbean-born Carol whipped across the Middle Atlantic, then hit New England to take at least 45 lives in wind furies unknown in that area since the hurricane of 1938.  Damage estimates ran into the billions as summer homes were smashed to kindling, hundreds of yachts were splintered on rocks and power service was severed in at least 33 communities.  A historic shrine at the famed Old North Church in Boston's North End, felt the fury of Carol as well. The ancient steeple from which Paul Revere received the signal to alert "every Middlesex village and farm" toppled at the storm's height.

1954 -- Hazel brings heavy rains to Pennsylvania, New York

Hazel came ashore in the Carolinas on Oct. 15 and from there slogged north through Pennsylvania and New York and into Canada with heavy rains producing severe floods. Hazel was responsible for 95 deaths in the United States, 100 deaths in Canada and an estimated 400 fatalities in Haiti.

1955 -- Connie and Diane flood the Mid-Atlantic states

These two hurricanes struck the North Carolina coast only five days apart in early August and rain from Connie set the stage for the devastating floods from North Carolina to Massachusetts caused by Diane. The floods were responsible were 184 deaths.

Sister act: Diane was one of three hurricanes to strike North Carolina in 1955.
Damage: $4.2 billion
Deaths (US): 184

Hurricane Diane hit the North Carolina coast in mid-August a short distance south of where her older sister, Connie, crossed the coastline a week earlier.

But while Connie's damage had largely been confined to North Carolina, Diane looped north through the mid-Atlantic to cause some of the worst flooding ever recorded.  Trains were stalled in their flooded tracks. Tobacco and cotton crops were flattened. Numerous rivers and streams poured out of their banks and into hundreds of streets, homes and highways.  "I have never seen anything like it in my life," one pilot told a reporter in Winsted, Conn. "It looks like someone had taken automobiles and thrown them at one another."  The wasteland left behind by the flood was "as devastating as the human mind can imagine," said a Rhode Island official.  A hot August sun made the gigantic, million-dollar clean-up task even more arduous. 

North Carolina was visited by its third hurricane of the season in September, when Ione blew through the Outer Banks, leaving seven dead.

1957 -- Hurricane Audrey hits southwest Louisiana and Texas

Audrey struck the Texas-Louisiana border on June 27 then turned toward Mississippi. Strong storm surges penetrated as far inland as 25 miles over portions of low-lying southwestern Louisiana. These surges were responsible for the vast majority of the 390 deaths from Audrey.

1960 -- Donna affects entire East Coast

Donna struck Florida Sept. 11 and then moved north, eventually reaching New England. Donna is the only storm to produce hurricane-force winds in Florida, the Mid-Atlantic states and New England. It was responsible for 50 deaths in the United States.

1961 -- Hurricane Carla Category 4 Storm slams Texas

1963 -- More than 7,000 in Haiti and Cuba fall victim to Flora

1965 -- Betsy rampages through Florida Keys, Gulf Coast

The storm plowed through the Bahamas, then mauled South Florida a day later. The tempest, more than 600 miles from edge to edge, flooded Miami and Fort Lauderdale with a six-foot tide.

Reign of terror: Sept. 6-10, 1965
Damage: $6.5 billion (in 1990 dollars)
Deaths (US): 75

On Sept. 4, 1965, Hurricane Betsy stalled off the Florida coast.  During the last week of August, Betsy had been building strength as it churned directly for South Carolina. Then on Saturday, Sept. 4, the storm whirled to a stop, about 350 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla.  When Betsy finally starting moving again on Sunday, she had changed directions. The storm plowed through the Bahamas Monday night, then mauled south Florida a day later. The tempest, more than 600 miles from edge to edge, flooded Miami and Fort Lauderdale with a six-foot tide.  Drawing increased strength from the warm waters of the Gulf, Betsy packed winds of 135 mph by the time it slammed into the Louisiana coast several days later.

1969 -- Camille thrashes Gulf Coast

This storm made landfall Aug. 17 along the Mississippi coast and moved north. A storm tide of 24.6 feet occurred at Pass Christian, Miss. The combination of winds, surges, and rain killed 143 on the Gulf Coast and 113 in Virginia floods.

When it rains ... : Virginia received 27 inches of rain in eight hours.
Damage: $5.2 billion
Deaths (US): 255 dead; 68 missing

Camille was a compressed hurricane, small in area, but ranking among the all-time greats in power.  The wind, rain and tides (20 feet above normal) ripped down power lines and blacked out entire cities as the storm pounded the low-lying areas of southeastern Louisiana and Alabama on Aug. 17, 1969.  Thousands were homeless as Camille raged through Mississippi. The stench of death and rotting rubbish permeated the coast where bodies were found floating off the beaches. Others were buried in mud, rubble and sand.  "There is no U.S. 90 left," the Mississippi governor said, referring to the heavily traveled highway that extended across the state.  The deaths in the Gulf states was only part of Camille's toll. As the storm moved inland across the Appalachians, Camille brought devastating rains to the Virginia mountains. Flash floods swept away homes, cars and people.

1971 -- Ginger sets endurance record

Hurricane Ginger wanders the North Atlantic, the Bermuda Triangle and the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia for a record 31 days (20 of them with hurricane force winds).

1972 -- Agnes hits Florida, floods the Mid-Atlantic

Agnes hit the Florida panhandle on Aug. 19, moved into Georgia and headed north, reaching New York on the 22nd. Rains produced widespread severe flooding from Virginia northward to New York and caused 122 deaths in the United States.

Water, water, everywhere: 28.1 trillion gallons doused the Eastern Seaboard
Damage: $6.5 billion
Deaths (US): 122

On Monday, June 19, 1972, Hurricane Agnes smacked the Florida Panhandle with 80-mile-an-hour winds, heavy rains and raging seas.  High winds sent signs cart-wheeling through Panama City streets, and an unattended amusement park ferris wheel bent under the strain. Spawned by Agnes, over 15 tornadoes erupted in Florida and Georgia.

At least a dozen had died in Agnes' initial assault, but the storm wasn't done with her destruction. Moving northward over land, the storm Agnes drenched the East Coast, causing floods as far north as New York.  In Pennsylvania, the storm killed dozens as raging waters tore houses from their foundations, tossed automobiles about like toys and smashed boats to bits. Another dozen died in Virginia, where the James River surged 27 feet above flood level in Richmond.

1974 -- Fifi kills as many as 10,000 people in Honduras

The hurricane, which hit on Sept. 18 and 19, destroyed 80 percent of the banana crop and drowned two-fifths of the country's cattle.

1975 -- Saffir-Simpson scale created

Meteorologists Herbert Saffir and Robert Simpson develop the Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricanes.

1979 -- Weather officials begin using male names also for hurricanes

1979 -- Frederic smashes the Gulf Coast, causing $3.5 billion in damage

Earlier in the season, Hurricane David ripped through the Caribbean, Florida and the Carolinas, killing 2,000 people.

Rush to safety: 500,000 people evacuated
Damage: $3.5 billion
Deaths (US): 5

Hurricane Frederic cut a 100-mile-wide swath of destruction through Mississippi and Alabama on Sept. 12, 1979.  The storm chopped up boats and marinas and damaged or destroyed nearly 200 homes. Some coastal roads were under as much as a foot of sand.  Florida resident Bobby Wise said the winds sucked his car up from the driveway and spiked it through his living room like a dart thrower hitting the bull's eye.

Before the storm hit, an estimated half million people fled to safety, keeping the death toll low. (Only two weeks before, monster Hurricane David had ripped through the Caribbean and eastern United States with winds reaching 150 mph. David killed more than 1,100 people, most of them in the Dominican Republic.)

In Mobile, where authorities has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew against Frederic's wrath, at least 64 people were arrested for looting overnight as National Guardsmen reinforced local police.  Frederic continued to whirl into the Great Lakes region and the Northeast, delivering torrential rains, scattered flooding, and tornadoes.

1983 -- Early warning crucial as Alicia hammers Texas

Alicia battered Galveston and Houston on Aug. 18. Wind gusts in downtown Houston littered the streets with broken glass as windows broke in the high-rise buildings. The storm was responsible for 21 deaths and $2 billion in damage in the United States.

"Let there be light...": Some 750,000 homes were without electricity.
Damage: $2.4 billion
Deaths (US): 18

Worries about drought suddenly gave way to fears for life and property as Hurricane Alicia assaulted the Texas coast on Thursday, Aug. 18, 1983.  The storm rumbled through Texas with a counter-clockwise crunch of 115 mph winds. Galveston was swamped. Window panes popped from Houston's glass and steel towers spewing shards over the streets below.  "I stood upstairs in my office this morning and watched large sheets of plate glass coming down from 30 stories high," said a Houston Civil Defense Administrator.

More than 100 fires caused by fallen electrical wires and broken gas lines burned throughout Houston, and firefighters were hampered by low water pressure and flooded and tree-blocked streets. Police also estimated that about 100 looters descended on the downtown area before they were able to barricade it.  Nevertheless, the death count for Hurricane Alicia was amazingly low.  State officials credited early warning and preparation for saving thousands of lives. About 42,000 people safely fled their homes, while those who stayed behind, boarded up windows and took other protective measures.

1989 -- Hugo wrecks Charleston, S.C.

After passing over Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Hugo made landfall near Charleston, S.C., on Sept. 22. Storm surges swamped the coast from Charleston to Myrtle Beach, with maximum tides of 20 feet. Hugo was responsible for 21 deaths in mainland United States, five more in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 24 elsewhere in the Caribbean. Damage estimates are $7 billion in the mainland United States.

Ground zero: Isle of Palms, S.C.
Damage: $7.2 billion (in 1990 dollars)
Deaths(U.S.): 28

Around midnight Friday, Sept. 22, Hurricane Hugo waded ashore in Charleston, S.C., with 135 mph winds and a 20-foot storm tide.  Winds flattened 30 major downtown buildings. City Hall flooded and lost part of its roof. Part of a hospital, which was serving as a shelter, collapsed. A 52-foot yacht came to rest on a city street.  "When you walk outside, it's like stepping onto another planet. It's like we've survived an atomic or nuclear bomb," said a police dispatcher.  "There's just destruction everywhere," Mayor Joseph P. Riley said.  The eye passed barely east of the city. Winds and rains caused damage up and down the coast, from Savannah, Ga., to Myrtle Beach, S.C.  Before blasting Charleston, Hugo had cut through the northeastern Caribbean, killing two dozen people. In Puerto Rico, Hugo overturned cars, peeled the roofs off houses and sent chunks of concrete plunging into the streets.

Despite improvements in forecasting, hurricanes continued to cause death and destruction in the 1990s. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew caused $26.5 billion in damage when it hit South Florida. Then in 1998, Hurricane Mitch killed over 11,000 people in Central America -- the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since 1780.

1991 -- The Perfect Storm gobbles Gloria and washes out the Northeast

In October 1991, the atmosphere seemed to go crazy. Three separate weather elements crashed together to form a storm of mammoth proportion–a blockbuster nor'easter–off the New England coast. As Halloween neared, the storm played tricks that veteran meteorologists had never seen a typical nor'easter perform, such as backing up into the Eastern Seaboard to unleash its titanic waves on bewildered beach towns.

1992 -- Hurricane Andrew devastates South Florida, and Iniki hammers Hawaii

Hurricane Andrew

The most destructive United States hurricane of record, Andrew blasted its way across South Florida on Aug. 24, continued westward into the Gulf of Mexico and struck the Louisiana coast on Aug. 26. Andrew is responsible for 23 deaths in the United States and three in the Bahamas. The hurricane caused $26.5 billion in damage in the United States, of which $1 billion occurred in Louisiana and the rest in South Florida.

Heavyweight: Andrew wrecked more property than Hugo, Agnes and Betsy combined.
Damage: More than $25 billion.
Deaths (US): 23

For 27 years, South Florida had been spared a severe hurricane. Then Andrew arrived, the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.  Andrew was a small but ferocious storm that began its destruction by ripping through the Bahamas with 150 mph winds on Aug. 23, killing three people. The next day, Andrew crashed into Dade Country, Fla., flattening houses, toppling palm trees, and leaving hundreds of residents homeless and panic-stricken.

Andrew was a category 4 hurricane (later revise to category 5) with a central pressure of 922 millibars, the third lowest measured for a hurricane hitting the United States. (The most intense hit the Florida Keys in 1935; Camille ranks second.)  Andrew killed 15 people in Dade County and left up to one-quarter million people homeless. (The National Hurricane Center estimates another 25 people died as an indirect result of the storm.)  More than $25 billion in damage was caused by the storm.

Andrew moved quickly over Florida, then out into the Gulf. As the storm approached Louisiana, more than 1.5 million people were evacuated. The hurricane struck a sparsely populated section of south-central Louisiana, but still took another eight lives.  Areas that didn't feel the wrath of the hurricane were terrorized by dozens of tornadoes spun off by Andrew. The tornadoes popped houses like balloons, scattering possessions into a communal hodgepodge. One Louisiana resident, Lucille Perrilloux, said her husband was injured when he was struck by a flying refrigerator.  "I don't know if it was my refrigerator or someone else's," she said.

Sorthly after Andrew, was Hurricane Hurricane Iniki in the Pacific.  In September 1992 - the Hawaiian Island of Kauai received massive damage; about $1.8 billion damage, with 7 deaths. It was also notable in that that was the local for the film Jurasic Park, and Steven Spielberg's film crew had to evacuate bringing and end to location shooting. FEMA costs for Hurricane Iniki from President's Disaster Relief Fund was $259.7 million.

1995 -- Season brings 19 named storms

With 19 storms, the 1995 season goes down as the second-busiest season on record, trailing only 1933, when 21 storms formed.  Tropical systems killed 121 people and caused $7.7 billion in damage, including 36 killed and $5 billion in damage in the United States.  For many, it seemed that the season might never end.  "We learned there's no limit to the number of tropical systems in one season," said B.T. Kennedy Jr., Palm Beach County, Fla., emergency management director.

The season saw Opal become the strongest hurricane to hit the United States mainland since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Opal shredded a 120-mile slice of the Gulf Coast, causing $1.8 billion worth of damage in the state and illustrating the vulnerability of Florida's coastline and the problems with massive evacuations.

The storms struck early and often. The Florida Panhandle got slammed by Allison, Erin and Opal.  By late August, the season had turned frantic. For the first time since 1971, forecasters tracked four named storms at once. Satellite photos showed a solid line of clouds, depressions, storms and hurricanes stretching from Florida to Africa.  "That was awesome," said Art St. Amand, Broward County, Fla., emergency management director.  The National Weather Service blamed the chaotic year on several factors. Winds in the upper atmosphere, which can rip the tops off thunderstorms and prevent hurricanes from developing, weren't present this year. Warmer ocean water near Africa provided more fuel for hurricanes.  There also were stronger clusters of thunderstorms coming off Africa, the tropical waves that form the basis for most hurricanes.

1996 -- Six hurricanes reach Category 3 or higher

Hurricane Bertha
Hurricane Fran

After 1995's near-record hurricane season, experts figured 1996 could not be as bad. But it was worse, killing more people and spawning stronger storms. Hurricanes caused $4.1 billion in damage in the United States and killed 147 people in the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean islands.

After 1995's near-record hurricane season, experts figured 1996 could not be as bad. But it was worse, killing more people and spawning stronger storms.  Hurricanes caused $4.1 billion in damage in the United States and killed 147 people in the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean islands, according to estimates from the National Hurricane Center.  In 1996, there were six major hurricanes, those with winds more than 110 mph. The year ranked fourth in the 110 years the hurricane center has been keeping records. Average is two major hurricanes a year; in 1995 there were five.  In the last two years, 11 major hurricanes formed - as many as in the previous nine years combined. Overall hurricane activity for 1996 - a statistic that combines the number of storms, their strength and durability - is twice normal.

A disturbing sign to experts is that 1996 saw so many hurricanes despite the existence of two major atmospheric conditions that normally hamper storm development. Upper-level winds around the equator were coming from the wrong direction, and western Africa, where storms first develop as rain showers, was unusually dry.  Worst hit in 1996 were the Carolinas and Puerto Rico. Florida was spared, but scared by Hurricanes Bertha, Edouard and Fran.

1997 -- Quiet year with only three hurricanes

This was an unusually quiet year in the tropics, one that crossed up forecasters and was a welcome relief from the ferocious 1995 and 1996 seasons. The year's meager totals -- seven named storms, three hurricanes, one major hurricane with winds of more than 110 mph -- fell well below the seasonal average of 10 storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.  Only one storm made landfall in the United States this year. For the first time since 1961, no storms formed in August. And only one storm developed during August and September, the traditional peak of hurricane activity. The last time that happened was 1929.

Meteorologists attribute the calm to a massive El Nino, the warm water phenomenon that periodically heats the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru.  "When an El Nino is in progress, it disturbs the (wind) circulation in the tropics all over the world," said Vernon Kousky, a research meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center. "In the Atlantic, it cuts off the heads of storms and doesn't allow them to form." 

This season got off to a deceptively fast start when four systems reached storm strength by mid-July. Two, Bill and Danny, became hurricanes.  Danny was the only Atlantic storm to wreak death and destruction on the United States, killing four people and causing an estimated $100 million in damage. After making landfall on the Gulf Coast near Mobile, Ala., on July 18, Danny slowly moved across the Southeast, dropping up to 40 inches of rain on some areas.  In September, Hurricane Erika became the season's only major storm, reaching Category 3 strength with winds of 125 mph. Erika briefly threatened the Leeward Islands, then quickly turned away from land and died harmlessly in the mid-Atlantic.  The season's last tropical storms, Fabian and Grace, formed in October and rapidly fizzled out.  "The most amazing thing is that there was only one named system in the August and September period," said Max Mayfield, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center. "It was very, very unusual for the peak of the season to be so quiet."

1998 -- Hurricane Mitch kills 11,000 in Central America

Thousands of people died in Honduras when Hurricane Mitch unleashed a tropical nightmare across much of Central America. The death toll crept past 11,000, about 60 percent in Honduras. Damages exceeded $5.5 billion.   Cleanup from one of the deadliest seasons in history will linger for many years, and the toll will echo for generations, a legacy written with rivers of mud and a staggering loss of life.

From Honduras to Haiti, Puerto Rico to the Florida Keys, powerful storms left their mark on the land and in the lives of survivors.  Few could have guessed that anything would surpass the fear and grief left by Hurricane Georges, which plowed across the Caribbean in September.

Georges gored Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, clipped eastern Cuba and raced through the Florida Keys before making final landfall in the marshes of southern Mississippi.  When Pablo Luis Olivero emerged from his Georges-battered home in eastern Puerto Rico, he may have captured the essence of the entire season when he declared: "Demons went through here."  More than 600 were killed, most in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Mitch, the unlucky 13th named storm of the season, would prove even more demonic -- by far the worst of a string of deadly storms during the season that runs from June 1 through November.  For a while it became the strongest October hurricane recorded in the Atlantic in the past century.  Although it weakened by the time it hit Honduras, Guanaja and other small islands nearby, Mitch unleashed torrential floods across three countries, burying entire villages in mud and debris.  At its peak, Mitch's central pressure, a measure of its power and ability to generate wind, was the fourth-lowest recorded in modern history, tying 1969's killer Hurricane Camille. Sustained winds reached 180 mph.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center were pressed to the limit to track all the storms during the 1998 season. At one time, four hurricanes swirled in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico at once -- Georges, Ivan, Jeanne and Karl -- a rarity not seen since 1897.  "From Aug. 19 to Sept. 23 -- 35 days -- we had 10 named storms. That's a whole season crammed into a month," said Frank Lepore, hurricane center spokesman.   The U.S. mainland was struck eight times by tropical storms or hurricanes -- counting the two hits by Georges, in the Keys and on the Gulf coast, said Lixion Avila, a hurricane specialist at the center.   "The average is one or two hits per year," Avila said.

1999 -- Floyd floods eastern U.S.

This storm came ashore near Cape Fear, N.C., on Sept. 16 and continued along the coast into New England. Storm-produced floods were responsible for 50 of the 56 deaths caused by Floyd in the United States.

The 1999 Atlantic hurricane season was busier than normal. There were 12 named storms, two more than the average, and eight of those were hurricanes, two more than average. Four of the hurricanes made landfall on the U.S. coastline.  The somewhat topsy-turvy season started unusually early when Tropical Storm Arlene formed in the Atlantic and went nowhere in June. Then it was eerily quiet until late August, when Hurricane Bret hit the Texas coast.

South Florida experienced its biggest scare in mid-September, when a Category 4 Hurricane Floyd, packing 155-mph winds, took aim at the Fort Lauderdale-Miami coastline. Long lines formed at home improvement and grocery stores, shutters flew up and emergency shelters opened.  Floyd came within 150 miles before getting bumped to the north by a cold front and ultimately hit North Carolina. 

Still, it was Hurricane Irene that left an indelible mark along the Gold Coast. The erratic storm originally was forecast to menace Florida's west coast and ended up churning over the southeast part of the state on Oct. 15.  Although the region was hit with only tropical storm force winds, Irene dumped up to 20 inches of rain in some areas, flooding streets and severely damaging homes, businesses, parks and government buildings. Many residents felt they were blind-sided by Irene because the National Hurricane Center did not issue a hurricane warning. They ended up driving to work that day, only to face miserable conditions on the ride home.  But forecasters said they provided plenty of advance warning in the form of a tropical storm warning, and people didn't take it seriously.  "We told people there were was going to be 10-20 inches of rain. We had tropical storm warnings up for winds of between 39 and 73 mph," said hurricane specialist Jack Beven. "The conditions were more or less what we were looking for."

Irene wasn't the only storm that confounded forecasters. Tropical Storm Harvey was forecast to hit Tampa but swung south over Naples and the rest of South Florida, causing only minor damage.  Hurricane Lenny was memorable because it formed at the tail end of the season and because it moved easterly across the Caribbean, finally hitting the Dutch, French and British islands of the Northeast Caribbean last week. Most storms move west or north. "Dating back to 1886, we cannot find a track similar to that," Beven said. "That's as far back as our track book goes."

more coming soon

 

Source:  NOAA, NWS, NHC, Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, AP, others