Hurricane Milton is currently a Category 4 storm and follows Hurricane Helene and long history of other storms that have caused life-altering effects for the people that are in its path.
People in states including Florida and North Carolina are still recovering from the devastation left by Hurricane Helene which made landfall at the end of September. The death toll as of Saturday had increased to more than 200 people and losses are in the billions, and another powerful storm is expected to make landfall soon.
The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Milton is shaping up to be dangerous, and it’s not the first time a hurricane has been devastating. Here are other comparable storms.
Hurricane Helene
- Year: 2024
- Location: Helene made landfall in several places including North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee
- Deaths: As of Saturday, the death toll from Hurricane Helene had increased to 228, according to a USA TODAY Network analysis
- Damage: Costs from Helene’s path of destruction across the southeastern U.S. are expected to surpass $30 billion, one analysis shows.
- What happened: Helene is the fourth-deadliest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. mainland since 1950. Deaths have been reported by officials in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. Falling trees was the biggest cause of death among the preliminary reports.
Hurricane Katrina
- Year: 2005
- Location: Three landfalls, one in Keating Beach, Florida, and two others near Buras, Louisiana, and near the Louisiana-Mississippi border
- Deaths: 1,392
- Damage: $125 billion (2005 dollars)
- What happened: Ranked as the deadliest storm since 1950, Katrina is tied with Hurricane Harvey as the costliest Atlantic hurricane on record, according to the National Hurricane Center. The largest reason for deaths connected to Katrina was the failure of the levees around New Orleans which caused catastrophic flooding in the area.
Hurricane Harvey
- Year: 2017
- Location: San Jose Island, Texas, about 20 miles southeast of Houston
- Deaths: 103
- Damage: $125 billion (2017 dollars)
- What happened: The storm caused catastrophic flooding in the Houston area and was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the mainland United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Some areas such as Nederland, Texas saw 60.58 inches of rain accumulation.
Hurricane Ian
- Year: 2022
- Location: Made landfall in Cayo Costa Island, Florida, about 29 miles west of Fort Myers
- Deaths: 156
- Damage: $113 billion (2022 dollars)
- What happened: Classified as a Category 5 hurricane, Ian was the third-costliest hurricane on record, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane was also the costliest storm in the history of Florida. Apart from the extensive damages it caused in Florida, Ian also caused damages in Cuba and the Carolinas.
Hurricane Andrew
- Year: 1992
- Location: Elliot Key, Florida, about nine miles east of Homestead
- Deaths: 65
- Damage: $60 billion (1992 dollars)
- What happened: The Category 5 hurricane is considered one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit Florida. Andrew was the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history until Hurricane Irma passed it 25 years later, according to the National Hurricane Center, Irma caused around $77 billion dollars in damages.
Deadliest hurricanes in the US
The deadliest hurricanes, based on National Hurricane Center information, are listed below by their rank, name, year and number of deaths.
- Katrina – 2005, 1,392
- Audrey – 1957, 416
- Camille – 1969, 256
- Helene – 2024, 228 (as of Saturday, Oct. 5)
- Diane – 1955, 184
- Ian – 2022, 156
- Agnes – 1972, 122
- Harvey – 2017, 103
- Hazel – 1954, 95
- Irma – 2017, 92
- Ike – 2008, 85
- Ida – 2021, 87
- Betsy – 1965, 75
- Andrew – 1992, 65
- Rita – 2005, 62
- Carol – 1954, 60
- Michael – 2018, 59
- Ivan – 2004, 57
- Floyd – 1999, 56
- Matthew – 2016, 52
Julia Gomez contributed to this report.