Rank Name/Area Year Category Deaths
1. Great Galveston Hurricane (TX) 1900 4 8,000
2. Lake Okeechobee (FL) 1928 4 2,500
3. Katrina (LA/MS/FL/GA/AL) 2005 3 1,200
4. Cheniere Caminanda (LA) 1893 4 1,100-1,400
5. Sea Islands (SC/GA) 1893 3 1,000-2,000
6. GA/SC 1881 2 700
7. Audrey (Southwest LA/North TX) 1957 4 416
8. Great Labor Day Hurricane (FL Keys) 1935 5 408
9. Last Island (LA) 1856 4 400
10. Miami Hurricane (FL/MS/AL) 1926 4 372
11. Grand Isle (LA) 1909 4 350
12. FL Keys/South TX 1919 4 287**
13. New Orleans (LA) 1915 4 275
14. Galveston (TX) 1915 4 275
15. Camille (MS/LA) 1969 5 256
16. New England 1938 3* 256
17. Diane (Northeast U.S.) 1955 1 184
18. GA/SC/NC 1898 4 179
19. TX 1875 3 176
20. Southeast FL 1906 2 164
21. Indianola (TX) 1886 4 150
22. MS/AL/FL 1906 3 134
23. FL/GA/SC 1896 3 130
24. Agnes (Northeast U.S.) 1972 1 122
25. Hazel (SC/NC) 1954 4* 95
26. Betsy (Southeast FL/Southeast LA) 1965 3 75
27. Great Atlantic Hurricane 1944 3* 64***
28. Carol (Northeast U.S.) 1954 3* 60
29. Floyd (NC) 1999 4 56
30. NC 1883 2 53

* - Moving more than 30 miles an hour

** - Over 500 of these lost on ships at sea; 600-900 estimated deaths

*** - Some 344 of these lost on ships at sea

 

ADDENDUM (Not in Mainland U.S.):

Name/Area Year Category Deaths
San Ciriaco (Puerto Rico) 1899 3 3,369
San Narcico (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands) 1867 3 811
San Lorenzo (Puerto Rico) 1852 1 800
San Felipe (Puerto Rico) 1928 5 312
San Ciprian (Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico) 1932 2 225
Donna (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) 1960 4 107
San Gil (Puerto Rico) 1888 1 100

Source: The Deadliest, Costliest, and Most Intense United States Tropical Cyclones From 1851 to 2006, updated April, 2007.

More Information: The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

National Hurricane Center Publication: The Deadliest Atlantic Tropical Cyclones, 1492 - 1996