Story at a glance
- Ian is set to make landfall Wednesday afternoon between Sarasota and Fort Myers.
- More than 2.5 million people are under mandatory evacuation orders in Florida.
- Here’s a look back at some of the worst hurricanes to hit the U.S.
Hurricane Ian is bearing down on the western coast of Florida as a major Category 4 hurricane, threatening the region with damaging winds, dangerous flooding and outages.
Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon between Sarasota and Fort Myers with winds just shy of Category 5 strength. The storm greatly intensified as it neared land, reaching winds of 155 mph. More than 2.5 million people are under mandatory evacuation orders in Florida.
Here’s a look back at some of the worst hurricanes to hit the U.S. in history.
The Cheniere Caminada Hurricane 1893
More than a century ago, a powerful Category 4 hurricane made landfall on the small island of Cheniere Caminada, La., with wind speeds of more than 130 mph. Storm surge of close to 18 feet decimated the small fishing community, leaving just a few homes standing and killing more than 770 of the town’s 1,471 residents. An estimated 2,000 people were killed as the hurricane moved over the Mississippi delta into southern Mississippi and Alabama.
Galveston Hurricane 1900
This Category 4 hurricane that hit the island city of Galveston, Texas, is one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history. Storm tides of up to 15 feet inundated the whole of the island as well as other parts of the Texas coast. High tides were largely responsible for an estimated 8,000 deaths and more than $30 million in damage. More than 10,000 residents were left homeless as most buildings in the city were damaged.
San Felipe-Okeechobee Hurricane 1928
More than 2,000 people lost their lives as this hurricane made its way from the Leeward Islands to Florida. The storm first made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds exceeding 140 mph and 312 were killed on the island. The hurricane eventually landed near Palm Beach, Florida several days later. Inland Lake Okeechobee was hit hardest in the state as the hurricane caused a lake surge of 6 to 9 feet. More than 2,000 people died in Florida, mostly due to lake surge.
The Great Labor Day Hurricane 1935
The 1935 Labor Day hurricane slammed the Florida Keys with estimated wind speeds of up to 185 mph and deadly storm surges. The combination of high winds and tides from the Category 5 storm left more than 400 people dead. Among those killed were World War I veterans working on a project to connect the railway to the Keys. Damages were estimated to be more than $6 million.
Hurricane Camille 1969
Hurricane Camille is one of only four Category 5 hurricanes to ever make landfall in the continental U.S. since 1900. Camille made landfall along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The actual maximum sustained winds of the hurricane are not known as the storm destroyed wind-recording instruments in the area, but estimates say the hurricane hit roughly 175 mph along the coast, bringing a storm tide of more than 24 feet. The greatest damage occurred in southeast Mississippi, Dauphin Island, the Alabama coastline and the Mobile metro area. The storm resulted in 256 deaths and more than $1.4 billion in damage.
Hurricane Andrew 1992
Hurricane Andrew hit southern Florida as a Category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. The storm made landfall in south Miami-Dade County and later moved into the Gulf of Mexico to make a second landfall near Point Chevreuil, La., as a Category 3 hurricane. Andrew caused an estimated $26 billion in damage and was responsible for at least 15 deaths.
Hurricane Katrina 2005
Hurricane Katrina is one of the most devastating hurricanes in U.S. history. Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with winds up to 125 mph near Buras, La. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, primarily from Louisiana and Mississippi. Katrina ranks as the costliest storm to hit the U.S., with an estimated $170 billion in damages.
Hurricane Sandy 2012
Sandy was a massive storm that brought high winds and flooding to the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states in late October 2012. Hurricane Sandy plowed through the Caribbean, killing 75 people, before heading north and approaching the East Coast. Sandy caused devastating storm surge and floods throughout the coasts of New York and New Jersey, and at one point, the storm engulfed roughly 800 miles between the East Coast and Great Lakes region. The storm killed more than 100 Americans, left millions without power and caused more than $70 billion worth of damage.
Hurricane Harvey 2017
Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane along the Texas coast near Port Aransas and caused $125 billion in damage. That’s more than any other natural disaster in U.S. history, with the exception of Hurricane Katrina. At the storm’s peak, one-third of Houston was underwater and flooding forced an estimated 39,000 people out of their homes. Dozens of people were killed in the storm.
Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria 2017
Puerto Rico was struck by two major hurricanes less than two weeks apart. Hurricane Irma — a Category 5 storm — approached the island, triggering widespread power outages and water service interruptions for days. Hurricane Maria later hit Puerto Rico directly as a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds of more than 150 mph, decimating the island’s already-fragile infrastructure. It took nearly a year for the island to restore power to all of the customers who lost it during the hurricane, marking the longest blackout in U.S. history. While officials initially said only 64 people died in the storm, the death toll was later revised to nearly 3,000.
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