Mother Nature can be merciless. From the churning hurricanes of the Gulf Coast, to the trailer-tossing storms of Tornado Alley, to the ground-pounding quakes of California, the United States is no stranger to deadly natural disasters. Here are five of the worst natural disasters ...read more
From the inauguration of Donald Trump to the first total solar eclipse to traverse the Lower 48 in nearly a century, 2017 was a year for the history books. Here we review the biggest news in politics, culture and science this year.Politics Trump’s inauguration: After a ...read more
Sometimes laws are passed with the stated goal of improving the whole of the United States, when really they’re just aimed at addressing one tiny issue. Such is the case with the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which received renewed scrutiny in September 2017 after Hurricane Maria ...read more
Up until 2017, Hurricane Katrina was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. After the storm devastated New Orleans in 2005, the federal government spent $120.5 billion to help the city and other affected areas recover (roughly $150 billion in 2017 dollars). Most of ...read more
The deadliest natural disaster in American history remains the 1900 hurricane in the island city of Galveston, Texas. On September 8, a category four hurricane descended on the town, destroying more than 3,600 buildings with winds surpassing 135 miles per hour.Estimates of the ...read more
Tropical Storm Emily surprised Florida without much warning on Monday. By Tuesday, Emily had been downgraded from a “tropical storm” to a “depression,” which meant it was time for internet jokes about Emily and her feelings.Although the World Meteorological Organization now names ...read more
1780 was among the worst years in history for North Atlantic hurricanes. The season kicked off in mid-June, when a squall formed in the Caribbean and tore across St. Lucia and Puerto Rico. In August, two more storms struck the Caribbean islands and New Orleans, killing dozens of ...read more
As dawn broke over the New England coast on September 21, 1938, the rising sun burned away the soft morning fog and left behind wispy clouds and hopes for one final beach day in summer’s fleeting hours. In the morning newspapers, only the most diligent of readers would have ...read more
The legend of the calamity-induced baby boom dates back to the so-called Great Blackout, which plunged an immense swath of Canada and the United States into darkness for up to 13 hours on November 9, 1965. The disruption occurred when an overloaded transmission line in Ontario ...read more
For as long as people have been tracking and reporting hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, they’ve been struggling to find ways to identify them. Until well into the 20th century, newspapers and forecasters in the United States devised names for storms that referenced ...read more
On this day in 1900, a Category 4 hurricane rips through Galveston, Texas, killing an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people. A 15-foot storm surge flooded the city, then situated at less than nine feet above sea level, and numerous homes and buildings were destroyed. The hurricane ...read more
Without warning, a powerful Category 3 hurricane slams into Long Island and southern New England, causing 600 deaths and devastating coastal cities and towns. Also called the Long Island Express, the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was the most destructive storm to strike the ...read more
In October 1780, a powerful storm slammed the islands of the Caribbean, killing more than 20,000 people. Known as the Great Hurricane of 1780, it is among the deadliest storms ever recorded. Specifics about the hurricane, such as its exact point of origin and strength, are ...read more
Millions of people evacuate their homes as Hurricane Floyd moves across the Atlantic Ocean on this day in 1999. Over the next several days, deaths are recorded from the Bahamas to New England due to the powerful storm.Floyd began as a tropical storm on September 7 and attained ...read more
The volcanic island of Krakatoa near Indonesia erupts on this day in 1883, killing thousands in one of the worst geologic disasters of modern times.The beginning of the amazing events at Krakatoa in 1883 date to May 20 when there were initial rumblings and venting from the ...read more
A hurricane hits the Louisiana coast, killing more than 400 people, on this day in 1856. Isle Derniere, a resort community, was totally submerged by the storm surges.This hurricane, which came before scientists began naming big storms, probably formed in the southeastern Gulf of ...read more
A hurricane strikes the east coast of Florida, sinking 10 Spanish treasure ships and killing nearly 1,000 people, on this day in 1715. All of the gold and silver onboard at the time would not be recovered until 250 years later. From 1701, Spain sent fleets of ships to the ...read more
On this day in 1963, Hurricane Flora crashes into Haiti, killing thousands of people. This huge storm, which also killed large numbers of people in Cuba and wreaked havoc elsewhere in the Caribbean, was one of the most deadly hurricanes in history.On September 30, Flora reached ...read more
A powerful hurricane slams into the Dominican Republic, killing more than 8,000 people, on this day in 1930. September is a prime month for hurricanes in the Caribbean, as storms that form off the African coast move west and are fueled by waters in the island region that have ...read more
Hurricane Mitch hits Central America on this day in 1998. The storm, the most deadly hurricane to hit the Western Hemisphere in more than 200 years, went on to kill thousands of people.The storm formed on October 8 off the west coast of Africa. For 10 days it grew larger, slowly ...read more
Hurricane Inez slams into the islands of the Caribbean, killing hundreds of people, on this day in 1966. The storm left death and destruction in its wake from Guadeloupe to Mexico over the course of its nearly three-week run. Inez was the most destructive hurricane of the 1966 ...read more
Hurricane Jeanne slams into Haiti, killing thousands, on this day in 2004. Coming just days after Hurricane Ivan, Jeanne was part of a series of deadly storms to hit the region during the 2004 hurricane season.The storm formed on September 13 near Africa’s west coast. As it moved ...read more
The storm that would become Hurricane Gordon forms in the Gulf of Mexico east of Costa Rica on this day in 1994. Although it spent far more time as a tropical storm than as a hurricane, Gordon went on to kill as many as a thousand people in Central America, the Caribbean and ...read more
Hurricane Hattie strikes Belize on this day in 1961, killing more than 400 people and leaving thousands homeless. Almost half of Belize City was demolished by the storm.The storm that would become Hattie had formed two weeks earlier in the Atlantic Ocean and then moved slowly ...read more