Back to Tropical Cyclones Records Page | Back to Main FAQ Page
Subject: E21) What is the total United States damage (before and after adjustment for inflation) and death toll for each year since 1900?

Contributed by Chris Landsea (NHC)

Estimated annual deaths and damages

Year	Deaths	Damage ($ Millions)
		Unadjusted	Adjusted	Normalized
1900	8,000	301	1,271 2	37,541
1901	10	1	42 2	904
1902	0	Minor	Minor	0
1903	15	1	42 2	9,730
1904	5	2	84 2	1,177
1905	0	Minor	Minor	0
1906	298	3	+ 127 2	5,739
1907	0	Minor	Minor	0
1908	0	Minor	Minor	0
1909	406	8	339 2	4,121
1910	30	1	42 2	1,591
1911	17	1	+ 42 2	304
1912	1	Minor	Minor	0
1913	5	3	127 2	920
1914	0	Minor	Minor	0
1915	550	63	2,669 3	33,344
1916	107	33	1,148	5,077
1917	5	Minor	Minor	0
1918	34	5	113	516
1919	287	22	447	7,543
1920	2	3	48	514
1921	6	3	61	4,584
1922	0	Minor	Minor	0
1923	0	Minor	Minor	0
1924	2	Minor	Minor	0
1925	6	Minor	Minor	0
1926	408	112	2,250	104,908
1927	0	Minor	Minor	0
1928	2,500	25	502	19,457
1929	3	1	18	190
1930	0	Minor	Minor	0
1931	0	Minor	Minor	0
1932	40	8	171	2,558
1933	63	47	1,117	4,892
1934	17	5	108	517
1935	414	12	259	4,469
1936	9	2	45	146
1937	0	Minor	Minor	0
1938	600	306	6,148	23,464
1939	3	Minor	Minor	0
1940	51	5	105	722
1941	10	8	155	1,410
1942	8	27	457	1,647
1943	16	17	270	2,131
1944	64	165	2,614	33,133
1945	7	80	1,237	9,958
1946	0	5	66	3,162
1947	53	136	1,497	15,196
1948	3	18	180	2,383
1949	4	59	590	8,707
1950	19	36	354	3,958
1951	0	2	17	256
1952	3	3	21	82
1953	2	6	42	37
1954	193	756	5,293	22,844
1955	218	985	6,757	17,204
1956	19	27	175	456
1957	400	152	960	3,186
1958	2	11	69	290
1959	24	23	147	582
1960	65	396	2,537	15,918
1961	46	414	2,664	9,340
1962	3	2	12	55
1963	10	12	75	194
1964	49	515	3,268	9,193
1965	75	1,445	8,921	16,557
1966	54	15	88	215
1967	18	200	1,146	2,673
1968	9	10	54	417
1969	256	1,421	7,201	14,298
1970	11	454	2,171	4,352
1971	8	213	954	1,580
1972	122	2,100	8,858	13,978
1973	5	18	70	123
1974	1	150	512	933
1975	21	490	1,533	2,290
1976	9	100	299	400
1977	0	10	28	42
1978	36	20	49	100
1979	22	3,045	6,769	11,264
1980	2	300	599	1,128
1981	0	25	46	102
1982	0	Minor	Minor	36
1983	22	2,000	3,523	5,289
1984	4	66	112	170
1985	30	4,000	6,641	8,567
1986	9	17	27	38
1987	0	8	12	17
1988	6	59	88	115
1989	56	7,670	10,989	13,436
1990	13	57	79	96
1991	16	1,500	2,064	2,234
1992	24	26,500	35,993	43,152
1993	4	57	74	83
1994	38	973	1,222	1,339
1995	29	3,723	4,498	4,860
1996	36	3,600	4,251	4,544
1997	4	100	114	121
1998	23	4,344	5,990	5,484
1999	62	5,532	5,907	6,222
2000	6	27	28	32
2001	45	5,260	6,314	6,254
2002	9	1,220	1,424	1,411
2003	24	3,600	4,007	3,970
2004	60	45,000	46,337	45,000
2005	2,067	120,000	120,000	120,000
2006	0	500	484	---
2007	10	50	48	---
2008	41	25,370	23,013	---
2009	6	0	0	0
2010	11	258	231	---
2011	52	15,800	13,720	---
2012	86	73,550	62,564	---
2013	1	Minor	Minor	---
2014	0	2	1.6	---
2015	10	17.9	14.8	---
2016	36	10,550	8,585	---
2017	80	202,225	161,123	---
2018	47	49,350	38,382	---

Adjusted - Adjusted to 2005 dollars based on U.S. Department of Commerce Implicit Price Deflator for Construction.
Normalized - Normalization reflects inflation changes in personal wealth and coastal county population to 2004. (Pielke and Landsea 1998)

¹ 1900 could have been as high as 12,000.
² Considered too high in 1915 reference.
³ Using 1915 cost adjustment - none available prior to 1915.

---

This table ranks the top 30 years by deaths, by unadjusted damage and by adjusted damage. In most years the death and damage totals are the result of a single, major hurricane.

The Thirty Deadliest and Costliest Years

Ranked on Deaths (1851-2015)			Ranked on Unadjusted Damage (1900-2015)			Ranked on Adjusted Damage (1900-2013)			Ranked by Normalized Damage (1900-2004)
Rank	Year	Deaths	Rank	Year	$ Millions	Rank	Year	$ Millions	Rank	Year	$ Millions
1	1900	8,0001	1	2005	120,000	1	2005	120,000	1	1926	104,908
2	1893	~3,0002	2	2012	73,550	2	2012	62,564	2	2004	45,000
3	1928	2,500	3	2004	45,000	3	2004	46,337	3	1992	43,152
4	2005	2,067	4	1992	26,500	4	1992	35,993	4	1900	37,541
5	1881	700	5	2008	23,370	5	2008	21,198	5	1915	33,344
6	1915	550	6	2011	15,800	6	2011	13,720	6	1944	33,1334
7	1935	414	7	1989	7,670	7	1989	10,991	7	1938	23,464
8	1926	408	8	1999	5,532	8	1965	8,921	8	1954	22,844
9	1909	406	9	2001	5,260	9	1972	8,858	9	1928	19,457
10	1957	400	10	1998	4,344	10	1969	7,202	10	1955	17,204
11	1906	298	11	1985	4,000	11	1979	6,769	11	1965	16,557
12	1919	287	12	1995	3,723	12	1955	6,757	12	1960	15,918
12	1969	256	13	1996	3,600	13	1985	6,642	13	1947	15,196
14	1938	256	14	2003	3,600	14	2001	6,314	14	1969	14,298
15	1955	218	15	1979	3,045	15	1938	6,148	15	1972	13,978
16	1954	193	16	1972	2,100	16	1998	5,990	16	1989	13,436
17	1972	122	17	1983	2,000	17	1999	5,907	17	1979	11,264
18	1916	107	18	1991	1,500	18	1954	5,293	18	1945	9,958
19	2012	86	19	1965	1,445	19	1995	4,499	19	1903	9,730
20	1965	75	20	1969	1,421	20	1996	4,252	20	1961	9,340
21	1960	65	21	2002	1,220	21	2003	4,008	21	1964	9,193
22	1944	64	22	1955	985	22	1983	3,523	22	1949	8,707
23	1933	63	23	1994	973	23	1964	3,268	23	1985	8,567
24	1999	62	24	1954	756	24	1915	2,6693	24	1919	7,543
25	2004	60	25	1964	515	25	1961	2,665	25	2001	6,254
26	1989	56	26	1975	490	26	1944	2,6144	26	1999	6,222
27	1966	54	27	1970	454	27	1960	2,537	27	1906	5,739
28	1947	53	28	1961	414	28	1926	2,250	28	1998	5,484
29	2011	52	29	1960	396	29	1970	2,171	29	1983	5,289
30	1940	51	30	1938	306	30	1991	2,064	30	1916	5,077

Notes:
Adjusted - Adjusted to 2005 dollars based on U.S. Department of Commerce Implicit Price Deflator for Construction.
Normalized - Landsea normalization reflects inflation, changes in personal wealth and coastal county population to 2004 (Pielke and Landsea 1998.)
¹ Could have been as high as 12,000.
² Considered too high in 1915 reference.
³ Using 1915 cost adjustment - none available prior to 1915.
⁴ Could include offshore losses.

Last Revised June 1, 2016

Back to Tropical Cyclones Records Page | Back to Main FAQ Page