The Costliest Hurricane in US History

The East Coast is currently in the midst of hurricane season. Hurricane Helene, which just slammed into Florida's Big Bend region tearing through several states and causing massive destruction, is the strongest hurricane on record to hit this area. The Category 4 hurricane had winds of 140 mph, causing flooding, landslides, and tornados, and wiping out entire areas. The death toll continues to rise as many people who didn't heed evacuation orders fell victim to its flood waters. Damages are currently estimated to be between 15 and over 100 billion dollars.

While this may have been the strongest hurricane in the Big Bend region, it isn't one of the strongest ever recorded or the costliest. That title belongs to Hurricane Katrina which hit the northern Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane (downgraded from its peak Category 5) and decimated cities like New Orleans. Even today, almost 20 years later, the city is still picking up the pieces of this storm.

One of the most destructive in history, Katrina was also the costliest hurricane ever, with damages of approximately 200 billion in 2024 dollars (adjusted for inflation), according to NOAA. The death toll was astronomical, with 1,833 fatalities. Those unable to evacuate dealt with wind speeds that reached 124 mph. Destruction was felt on a massive scale, with major roads and bridges wiped out – the I-10 Twin Span Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain saw significant structural damage.

To dig deeper into the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, 24/7 Tempo consulted weather-related sources. These include NBC New York, Hurricane Science, and WeatherWorks. For more weather content, click here to read about the most obscure weather phenomena that might become more common.

An average hurricane has wind speeds of around 120 mph. The water from the ocean is swept up and the rain floods the streets. Anyone who's ever survived a hurricane will tell you the stress and anguish they felt while the winds propelled various things throughout the air is second to none. Hurricane Katrina headed toward the coast as a Category 5, with wind speeds of 174 mph.

When it hit land, speeds had dropped to 140 and a Category 4. By the time it reached New Orleans, winds were at 124 mph. Winds alone would have caused severe damage to anything in the storm's path but rain and flooding added more to the chaos, which is why the damage was so costly.

Hurricane Katrina is considered the most damaging hurricane in terms of finances. That storm caused more than $200 billion (adjusted for inflation) in damage, some of which is still being cleaned up nearly 20 years later. Millions of people lost their homes, businesses, and historical sites. The NFL New Orleans Saints offered their indoor stadium as a place of refuge.

It's astonishing when anyone sees the death toll caused by Hurricane Katrina. Around 1,833 people lost their lives because of the storm. Some folks were trapped inside their homes and didn't have access to food and water. Others were swept away by the extreme floods and drowned.

The eight days that the storm was active in New Orleans were some of the darkest in history. The storm ranks as the third worst in terms of death toll in United States history. The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the Lake Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 ranked higher. There was far less technology and warning signs in place, part of the reason the death toll was so high.

Hurricane Katrina caused some of the worst flooding in history. In fact, by the end of the storm on August 31, nearly 80% of New Orleans was underwater. Floods reached heights of around 30 feet. While the city was built with hurricanes in mind, nobody thought of a storm this bad hitting the city.

Millions of folks couldn't work for months while their offices and storefronts were cleaned up, and a significant amount of money was donated to the restoration efforts. It is imperative to listen to evacuation orders to avoid similar crises. For more weather content, click here to read about the eight weirdest weather stories in history.