Natural and Man-Made Disasters | What Was The Worst Hurricane In U.S. History?
What was the worst hurricane in U.S. history?
Meteorologists, scientists who study weather, measure the intensity of hurricanes using the Saffir-Simpson scale, on which category 1 is the weakest storm and category 5 is the strongest storm. Damage caused by a hurricane can be measured in loss of lives and property and damage to the environment. The most severe loss of American lives from a hurricane took place on September 8, 1900, in Galveston, Texas, when an unnamed category 4 storm came ashore, flooding the city. Eight thousand deaths were reported, but experts estimate as many as 12,000 people may have died because many bodies could not be recovered. Since that time meteorologists have been better able to predict the course of hurricanes and shoreline communities have established evacuation plans. As a result, fewer lives were lost to hurricanes at the end of the twentieth century. Property damage rose, however,...
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