Reducing Coastal Risk on the East and Gulf Coasts (2014)
Chapter: Appendix A: Major U.S. Coastal Storms Since 1900
Appendix A
Major U.S. Coastal Storms Since 1900
Table A-1 provides information on major coastal storms that have impacted the United States since 1900. The committee primarily utilized information compiled by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service and included storms from those compilations that were reported to have caused over $200 million in damages (in 2013 dollars) or over 200 deaths, although the list is not exhaustive. Most of the storms included on this list are tropical cyclones, which may be due in part to the relatively localized geographic impacts of these storms and the focus of post-event analyses. Extratropical storms, exemplified by two notable storms in this list, tend to affect much larger areas of the coast and produce waves and surges that usually persist for much longer than tropical systems. For this reason, they produce much more destruction to natural coastal defenses (primarily the dune system and their fronting beaches). The lack of careful post-event analyses of these storms makes it very difficult to find accurate estimates of the total damages; however, it should be recognized that they occur much more frequently than tropical cyclones along most East Coast areas and play a large role in changing the vulnerability and resilience of coastal communities.
The Saffir-Simpson scale is included in Table A-1 only to provide a concept of storm intensity as the storms struck the U.S. coast. Many other factors influence storm surge and coastal damages. The Saffir-Simpson scale was abandoned by the National Hurricane Center as an indicator of storm surge/coastal inundation in 2010 (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/).
TABLE A-1 Major U.S. Coastal Storms since 1900
| Name | Year | Location | Estimated U.S. Damages (in Billions of 2013 Dollars) | Fatalities | Saffir-Simpson Category* |
| Hurricane Sandya | 2012 | Florida to Maine | 66 | 159 | 2 |
| Hurricane Irenea | 2011 | Puerto Rico, NC, mid-Atlantic coast, New York City, NY | 14 | 45 | 1 |
| Hurricane Ikea | 2008 | Galveston Island, Texas | 32 | 112 | 2 |
| Hurricane Wilmaa | 2005 | Naples, FL; Upper Keys, FL; Marathon, FL | 23 | 35 | 3 |
| Hurricane Ritaa | 2005 | Texas, Louisiana | 22 | 119 | 3 |
| Hurricane Katrinaa | 2005 | Buras, LA | 149 | 1833 | 3 |
| Hurricane Dennisa | 2005 | Gulf coast, FL | 3 | 15 | 3 |
| Hurricane Jeannea | 2004 | Puerto Rico, Florida | 9 | 28 | 3 |
| Hurricane Ivana | 2004 | Southeastern U.S. | 25 | 57 | 4 |
| Hurricane Francesa | 2004 | Florida | 12 | 48 | 2 |
| Hurricane Charleya | 2004 | Florida, New Jersey | 20 | 35 | 4 |
| Hurricane Isabela | 2003 | Mid-Atlantic | 7 | 55 | 2 |
| Tropical Storm | 2001 | Texas, North | 11 | 43 | Tropical |
| Allisona | Carolina | storm | |||
| Hurricane Floyda | 1999 | North Carolina | 9 | 77 | 2 |
| Hurricane Opala | 1995 | Florida | 5 | 27 | 3 |
| Hurricane Andrewa | 1992 | Lower east FL coast; Gulf Coast | 45 | 61 | 4 |
| Hurricane Iniki a | 1992 | Hawaii | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| The “Perfect | 1991 | Florida through | <1 | 5 | Extratropical |
| Storm”b | Maine | storm | |||
| Hurricane Hugoa | 1989 | Puerto Rico; Charleston, SC; Hatteras, NC | 17 | 86 | 4 |
| Hurricane Aliciaa | 1983 | Galveston, TX | 7 | 21 | 3 |
| Tropical Storm | 1979 | Texas, Louisiana, | 1 | 2 | Tropical |
| Claudettec | Oklahoma | storm | |||
| Hurricane Agnesc | 1972 | East coast of Florida, Pennsylvania, New York | 12 | 122 | 1 |
| Name | Year | Location | Estimated U.S. Damages (in Billions of 2013 Dollars) | Fatalities | Saffir-Simpson Category* |
| Hurricane Camillec | 1969 | Gulf Coast | 9 | 256 | 5 |
| Ash Wednesday Stormd | 1962 | East coast from Cape Hatteras, NC to Rhode Island | 1.5 | 40 | Extratropical Storm |
| Hurricane Donnac | 1960 | Puerto Rico, Florida, North Carolina, New England | 3 | 50 | 4 |
| Hurricane Audreyc | 1957 | Texas, Louisiana | 1 | 390 | 4 |
| Hurricanes Connie and Dianec | 1955 | North Carolina | 7.6 | 184 | 3 (Connie), 1 (Diane) |
| Hurricane Hazelc | 1954 | South Carolina, North Carolina | 2 | 95 | 4 |
| Hurricane Carolc | 1954 | North Carolina, Virginia, New York | 4 | 60 | 3 |
| Great Atlantic Hurricanec | 1944 | North Carolina to Maine | 1.3 | 46 | 3 |
| New England Hurricanec | 1938 | North Carolina, New York, Connecticut | 5 | 600 | 3 |
| Florida Keys Labor Day Hurricanec | 1935 | South Florida | <1 | 408 | 2 |
| San Felipe-Lake Okeechobee Hurricanec | 1928 | Puerto Rico, Florida | <1 | 2148 | 4 |
| Great Miami Hurricanec | 1926 | Miami, FL | 91 | 373 | 4 |
| Atlantic Gulf Hurricanec | 1919 | Florida, Texas | <1 | 600-900 | 4 |
| Galveston Hurricanec | 1900 | Galveston, TX | <1 | 6,000-8,000 | 4 |
NOTES: This list is not exhaustive. *Saffir-Simpson category provided at landfall on the U.S. coast.
SOURCES:
ahttp://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events,
bhttp://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/satellite/satelliteseye/cyclones/pfctstorm91/pfctstdam.html,
chttp://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/history/,
dhttp://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/Historic_Events/StormsOfCentury.html.
