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List of disasters in the United States by death toll

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List of United States disasters by death toll is a list of notable disasters which occurred in the United States or involved U.S. citizens, in a definable incident.

Due to inflation, the monetary damage estimates are not comparable. Unless otherwise noted, the year given is the year in which the currency's valuation was calculated.

This list is not comprehensive in general, and epidemics are not included.

Fatality figure may include wounded
Year Typ Fatalities Damage (US$) Article Standort Kommentare
1900 Cyclone 6,000-12,000 Galveston Hurricane of 1900 Texas Fatalities estimated - remains deadliest natural disaster in North American history.
1906 Earthquake and Fire (urban conflagration) 3,000-6,000 1906 San Francisco Earthquake California Conflagration followed quake; fatalities estimated
1928 Cyclone 3,000 $800,000,000
(2005) 		1928 Okeechobee Hurricane Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Florida 4,078+ believed dead total. About 2,500 died in Florida and 500 in the U.S. possession of Puerto Rico.
2001 Terrorism 2,973 September 11, 2001 attacks New York City, Arlington, VA, Pennsylvania, U.S. airspace 2,973 victims and 19 hijackers.
1941 State Terrorism 2,403 Pearl Harbor
Air Attack 		Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, Ewa Beach, Honolulu, Lahaina Roads,
Hawaiian Territorial Airspace
Hawaiian Sea Lanes 		Undeclared, unprovoked surprise military attack taken to prevent potential future US defense of allied Pacific nations and US territories and their economic interests and raw materials.
The United States entered World War II as a result.
1889 Accident - Dam burst 2,209 Johnstown Flood Pennsylvania Much rain, deforestation; dam failed
1893 Cyclone 2,000 1893 Cheniere Caminada Hurricane Louisiana Fatalities estimated
2005 Cyclone 1,836 $84,000,000,000
(2006) 		Hurricane Katrina Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama
1865 Accident - Shipwreck 1,700 Sultana (steamboat) Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee Steamboat sank due to boiler explosion; fatalities estimated
1980 Heat wave 1,700 1980 United States heat wave Central and southern states Official death toll, may have been higher
1912 Accident - Shipwreck 1,490-1,522 RMS Titanic Atlantic Ocean Bound for New York City
1871 Fire (rural) 1,200-2,500 Peshtigo Fire Peshtigo, Wisconsin Fatalities estimated; most deaths in single fire in U.S. history
1904 Accident - Shipwreck 1,021 PS General Slocum East River near New York City Steamship sank due to fire on board
1893 Cyclone 1,000-2,000 1893 Sea Islands Hurricane Georgia, South Carolina Fatalities estimated
1915 Accident - Shipwreck 845 S.S. Eastland Chicago, Illinois
1995 Heat wave 739 Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 Chicago, Illinois
1925 Tornado 695-727 $1,650,000,000
(2005) 		Tri-State Tornado Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (Kentucky, Tennessee) Lower number for single 3-state tornado; higher for 5-state outbreak
1903 Fire (building) 602 Iroquois Theatre Fire Chicago, Illinois
1919 Cyclone 600 1919 Florida Keys Hurricane Florida, Texas
1928 Accident - Dam failure 600 St. Francis Dam Santa Clarita, California (Greater Los Angeles area)
1938 Cyclone 600 Great New England Hurricane
1947 Accident - Explosion 581 Texas City Disaster Texas City, Texas Ammonium nitrate onboard ship
1942 Fire (building) 492 Cocoanut Grove fire Nightclub
1918 Fire (rural) 453 $7,300,000 1918 Cloquet Fire Minnesota
1913 Flood 428 1913 Statewide Flood Ohio
1935 Cyclone 423 Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 Florida
1860 Accident - Shipwreck 400 PS Lady Elgin Chicago, Illinois
1888 Blizzard 400 Great Blizzard of 1888 Northeast Fatalities estimated
1894 Fire (rural) 400 Great Hinckley Fire Hinckley, Minnesota and vicinity
1937 Flood 385 $5,000,000,000 Ohio River flood of 1937 Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois
1907 Accident - Coal mine 362 Monongah Mining disaster Monongah, West Virginia
1950 Blizzard 353 $66,700,000
(1950) 		Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950 Eastern states
1977 Accident - Aircraft 335 Tenerife disaster Canary Islands, Spain 583 total deaths when two jets collided, including 335 Americans (mostly on a Pan Am jet from New York).[1]
1944 Accident - Explosion 320 Port Chicago disaster Port Chicago, California (San Francisco Bay Area) WWII ammunition ignited
1974 Tornado 315 Super Outbreak Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and New York 148 tornadoes
2010 Earthquake 104–? 2010 Haiti earthquake Port-au-Prince, Haiti and vicinity 230,000 deaths overall. For Americans and Haitian-Americans with dual citizenship, there were 104 confirmed deaths and 2,000 of unknown status as of March 8, 2010.[2]
1865 Accident - Explosion 300 Mobile magazine explosion Mobile, Alabama Civil War ammunition
1937 Accident - Explosion 296-319 $13,000,000
(2003) 		New London School explosion New London, Texas Gas leak
1881 Fire (rural) 282 $2,347,000 Thumb Fire Michigan
1898 Explosion 274 USS Maine Havana, Cuba A major event that precipitated the Spanish–American War. Exact cause remains unknown.
1979 Accident - Aircraft 273 American Airlines Flight 191 Chicago, Illinois
1965 Tornado 271 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana 78 tornadoes
1999 Heat wave 271 Midwest and Northeast
2001 Accident - Aircraft 265 American Airlines Flight 587 Queens, New York
1913 Accident - Coal mine 263 Dawson, New Mexico
1909 Accident - Coal mine 259 Cherry Mine Disaster Cherry, Illinois
1937 Accident - Coal mine 257 Grundy, Virginia
1969 Cyclone 256 Hurricane Camille Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia
1896 Tornado 255-400 $2,900,000,000
(1997) 		St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado Missouri
1913 Blizzard 250 Great Lakes Storm of 1913 Fatalities estimated
1913 Storm 250 $5,000,000
(1913) 		Great Lakes Storm of 1913 Great Lakes area Financial impact for lost vessels and cargo only
1927 Flood 246 $400,000,000 Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee
1972 Flood 238 $160,000,000
(1972)
$664,000,000
(2002) 		Rapid City Flood Rapid City, South Dakota Average rainfall over area of 60 mi² measured at 10-15 inches (380 mm), over 6 hours in middle of night June 9-10, 1972.
1996 Accident - Aircraft 230 TWA Flight 800 Atlantic Ocean near Long Island, New York
1871 Fire (urban conflagration) 200-300 Great Chicago fire Chicago, Illinois Fatalities estimated; 125 bodies recovered
1900 Accident - Coal mine 200 Scofield mine disaster Scofield, Utah
1898 Accident - Shipwreck 192 The Portland Gloucester, Massachusetts
1988 Terrorism 190 Pan Am Flight 103 Lockerbie, Scotland 270 total deaths, including 190 Americans.
1995 Terrorism 168 Oklahoma City bombing Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1977 Fire (building) 165 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire Southgate, Kentucky near Cincinnati, OH
1946 Tsunami and Earthquake 165 Aleutian Island earthquake Alaska and Hawaii
1911 Fire (building) 148 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire New York City
1976 Flood 145 Big Thompson Canyon Flood of 1976 Colorado
1985 Accident - Aircraft 135 Delta Air Lines Flight 191 Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Texas
1960 Accident - Aircraft 134 1960 New York air disaster New York City
1944 Accident - Explosion 130 $7,000,000-
$15,000,000 		Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion Cleveland, Ohio
1972 Accident - Dam burst 125 Buffalo Creek Flood Logan County, West Virginia
2004 Cyclone 124 $19,000,000,000
(2005) 		Hurricane Ivan Texas, Florida, East Coast
2005 Cyclone 120 $10,000,000,000
(2005) 		Hurricane Rita Louisiana
1938 Flood 115 Los Angeles Flood of 1938 Los Angeles, California
1964 Tsunami and Earthquake 115 $1,800,000,000
(2006) 		Good Friday Earthquake Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, California, British Columbia
1837 Accident - Shipwreck 115 Wreck of the Mexico Long Beach, New York Eight people rescued from shore. One hundred fifteen crew and passengers (mostly Irish immigrants, and many of them women and children) froze to death on the deck of the ship just 200 yards from shore. See book: "Water and Ice: The Tragic Wrecks of the Bristol and the Mexico on the South Shore of Long Island" @ www.Lynhistory.com The wreck of the Mexico is the subject of Walt Whitman's poem, "Sleepers" in Leaves of Grass.
1981 Accident - collapse 114 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse Kansas City, Missouri
1947 Accident - Coal mine 111 Centralia mine disaster Centralia, Illinois
1989 Accident - Aircraft 111 United Airlines Flight 232 Sioux City, Iowa
1996 Accident - Aircraft 110 ValuJet Flight 592 Florida Everglades
1918 Accident - Railroad 101 Great train wreck of 1918 Nashville, Tennessee
2004 Tsunami 34–169 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake Asia and Africa 230,000+ total casualties, 34 confirmed American deaths, with another 135 U.S. citizens missing.[3]
2003 Fire (building) 100 The Station nightclub fire West Warwick, Rhode Island 4th-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200.
1910 Avalanche 96 Wellington avalanche Wellington, Washington
1918 Accident - Railroad 93 Malbone Street Wreck Brooklyn, New York
1876 Accident - Railroad 92 Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster Ashtabula, Ohio
1990 Fire (building) 87 Happy Land Fire New York City
1910 Fire (rural) 86 Great Fire of 1910 Washington, Idaho, Montana
1918 Accident - Railroad 86 Hammond Circus Train Wreck Hammond, Indiana
1993 Raid - Fire 86 Waco Siege Branch Davidian Complex, Waco, TX 6 Davidians and 4 police killed in initial raid, 76 Davidians died in assault weeks later when building was set on fire.
1951 Accident - Railroad 85 Woodbridge train wreck Woodbridge, New Jersey
1887 Accident - Railroad 81-85 Great Chatsworth Train Wreck Chatsworth, Illinois
1963 Accident - Aircraft 81 Pan Am Flight 214 Elkton, Maryland Lightning strike
1993 Blizzard 79-300 $6,600,000,00 Storm of the Century East Coast of North and Central America
1982 Accident - Aircraft 78 Air Florida Flight 90 Washington, D.C.
1950 Accident - Railroad 78 Kew Gardens train crash Kew Gardens, New York
1936 Flood 69 $3,000,000,000
(2006) 		Pittsburgh Flood 1936 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area
1989 Earthquake 69 $6,000,000,000
(1989) 		Loma Prieta Earthquake San Francisco Bay Area, California
1971 Earthquake 65 $500,000,000 Sylmar earthquake Greater Los Angeles, California area
1856 Accident - Railroad 59-67 The Great Train Wreck of 1856 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
1960 Tsunami 61 $500,000
(2005) 		Great Chilean Earthquake Hawaii, Alaska 2,290 to 6,600 killed and $3,500,000,000 (2005) in damage worldwide. 61 killed in Hilo, Hawaii. $500,000 in U.S. property damage
2008 Tornado 59 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, and Illinois
1980 Volcano 57 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens Washington State
1994 Earthquake 57 $23,000,000,000 Northridge Earthquake Greater Los Angeles area
1896 Accident - Railroad 50 1896 Atlantic City rail crash New Jersey
1993 Flood 50 $15,000,000,000 Great Flood of 1993 Midwest
2009 Accident - Aircraft 50 Colgan Air Flight 3407 Clarence Center, New York
1989 Cyclone 49 $7,000,000,000
(1989) 		Hurricane Hugo Caribbean and Eastern North America. Damage figure for U.S. only. At least 111 total deaths, with 37 in the continental U.S. and 12 in the U.S. possession of Puerto Rico.
2004 Cyclone 49 $9,000,000,000 Hurricane Frances Florida
2006 Accident - Aircraft 49 Comair Flight 5191 Lexington, Kentucky
1867 Accident - Railroad 49 Angola Horror Angola, New York
1999 Tornado 48 $1,500,000,000
(2005) 		1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee 66 tornadoes
1853 Accident - Railroad 48 Norwalk rail accident Norwalk, Connecticut
1993 Accident - Railroad 47 Big Bayou Canot train disaster Alabama Deadliest train crash in Amtrak history.
1927 Terrorism 45 Bath School Disaster Michigan
1977 Accident - Dam failure 39 Kelly Barnes Dam
1937 Accident - Aircraft 36 Hindenburg disaster Manchester, New Jersey Hydrogen-filled zeppelin
1969 Accident - Aircraft 35 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Lone Pine, California
1967 Accident - Aircraft 34 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Blossburg, Pennsylvania
2007 Terrorism 33 Virginia Tech massacre Blacksburg, Virginia
1973 Fire 32 Upstairs Lounge New Orleans, Louisiana
2009 Tsunami 31 2009 Samoa earthquake American Samoa and nearby islands 189 total deaths, with 31 in American Samoa.
1998 Blizzard 30 North American ice storm of 1998 Canada and Northeast
1956 Accident - Railroad 30 Redondo Junction train wreck Los Angeles
1990 Tornado 29 $160,000,000 1990 Plainfield tornado Plainfield, Illinois Crest Hill, Illinois
1951 Flood 28 $7,000,000,000
(2005) 		Great Flood of 1951 Kansas and Missouri
1988 Accident - Automobile 27 Carrollton bus disaster Carrollton, Kentucky
1970 Tornado 26 $1,411,900,000
(2008) 		Lubbock Tornado Lubbock, Texas F5 tornado killed 26 and wounded approximately 500
2008 Train collision 26 2008 Chatsworth train collision Chatsworth, California
1991 Fire (building) 25 Hamlet chicken processing plant fire Hamlet, North Carolina Workers trapped behind locked doors
1991 Fire (rural) 25 $1,500,000,000 1991 Oakland firestorm Oakland, California and vicinity
2005 Tornado 25 $92,000,000 Evansville Tornado of November 2005 Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio 7 tornadoes
1977 Blizzard 23 $56,250,000
(1977) 		Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 New York and Ontario (esp. Buffalo, New York)
1989 Accident - Explosion 23 $1,415,000,000
(1990) 		Phillips Disaster Pasadena, Texas 314 people injured
1992 Cyclone 23 $25,000,000,000 Hurricane Andrew Florida and Louisiana
1919 Accident - Explosion 21 $6,600,000,000
(2005) 		Boston molasses disaster Boston, Massachusetts Damages are out-of-court settlements only; repairs took 133 man-months
2010 Flood 20 June 2010 Arkansas floods Albert Pike Recreational Area (near Langley, Arkansas)
1872 Fire (urban conflagration) 20 $73,500,000
(1872) 		Great Boston Fire of 1872 Boston, Massachusetts
1944 Accident - Aircraft 19 Long Creek Air Disaster South Portland, Maine
1966 Terrorism 15 University of Texas Massacre Austin, Texas
1999 Terrorism 15 Columbine High School massacre Jefferson County, Colorado
2007 Fire 14 California wildfires of October 2007 California Large fires burnt out of control across southern California, fueled by unusually strong Santa Ana Winds; worst around San Diego; caused evacuation of over one million people. Most fires accidental; some suspected arson.
2009 Terrorism 13 Fort Hood shooting Fort Hood, Texas
2007 Accident - Bridge Collapse 13 $5,000,000 I-35W Mississippi River bridge Collapse Minneapolis, Minnesota Collapsed on August 1 at 6:05 PM during rush hour while resurfacing in progress. An additional 111+ injured.
1976 Accident - Dam failure 11 $400,000,000 Teton Dam Idaho
2004 Cyclone 10 $15,000,000,000 Hurricane Charley Florida
1957 Tornado 10 $25,883,000 1957 Fargo tornado Fargo, ND
2007 Accident - Coal mine 9 Crandall Canyon Mine Collapse Huntington, Utah Original collapse on August 6 at 2:48 AM MDT, 6 miners missing. On August 16 at 6:30 PM MDT, 9 rescue workers caught in second collapse while trying to get to trapped miners. Three rescue workers pronounced dead; other 6 injured.
1996 Flood 8 $500,000,000 Willamette Valley Flood of 1996 Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California
1901 Fire (urban conflagration) 7 Great Fire of 1901 Jacksonville, Florida
1986 Explosion Space Shuttle 7 Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Kennedy Space Center, Florida The first in-flight deaths in the U.S. Space Program
2003 Explosion Space Shuttle 7 Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster Texas
1995 Flood 6 $1,360,000,000 May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood New Orleans, Louisiana area
2010 Accident - Explosion 5[4] 2010 Connecticut power plant explosion Middletown, Connecticut 12 or more injuries[5]
2010 Accident - Explosion 29[6] 2010 West Virginia Coal Mine Explosion Montcoal, West Virginia 29 confirmed deaths.[7]
2007 Accident - Explosion 4 T2 Laboratories Jacksonville, Florida 14 injuries
1999 Accident - Explosion 2 Phillips explosion of 1999 Pasadena, Texas 4 injuries
1776 Fire (urban conflagration) Great Fire of New York (1776) Manhattan, New York City
1816 Famine (caused by volcano) Year Without a Summer Volcanic dust from an massive eruption by Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies (present Indonesia) in 1815 led to an abnormally cold summer in 1816 in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Cold weather inhibited crops, and frosts and snowstorms killed what did grow, leading to a localized famine.
1835 Fire (urban conflagration) $20,000,000
(1835) 		Great Fire of New York
1888 Cold wave 1888 Northwest Cold Wave Northwest
1914 Fire (urban conflagration) $290,000,000
(2005) 		Great Salem Fire of 1914
1931-1939 Drought Dust Bowl Great Plains Compounded by unsustainable agricultural techniques
2000 Accident - Explosion 1 Phillips explosion of 2000 Pasadena, Texas 71 injuries
1997 Flood 0 $2,000,000,000 1997 Red River Flood North Dakota, Minnesota, Southern Manitoba
1929-37 Economic Unknown Unknown The Great Depression Global

Template:Deadliest earthquakes by state

See also

References

  1. ^ "About the identifying of the victims". Project-Tenerife.com. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  2. ^ Marisol Bello (March 8, 2010). "Across USA, many still wait for word about loved ones in Haiti". USA Today. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  3. ^ "Tsunami dead and missing". CBC.ca. December 23, 2005. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  4. ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6856225.html
  5. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35283135/ns/us_news/
  6. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/west-virginia-coal-mine-e_n_526151.html
  7. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/west-virginia-coal-mine-e_n_526151.html
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