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Peshtigo Fire - October 8, 1871
The wildfire even jumped across the Peshtigo River, trapping both sides of the town in flames. By the time the inferno subsided, it had scorched 12 towns and left roughly 1,200 dead. -
Johnstown Flood - May 31, 1889
Days of torrential downpour caused the dam to burst, unleashing more than 20 million tons of water and debris to crash down on the city with the force of Niagara Falls. The flood leveled 1,600 homes and killed 2,209 people. -
Hurricane Galveston - Sept. 8, 1900
When the category 4 hurricane with estimated 135 mph winds made landfall in the early morning, buildings crumbled under the force of 15-foot-high waves -
Great San Francisco Fire and Earthquake - April 18, 1906
By the time the fires were doused, flames had devoured more than 500 city blocks, and 3,000 lives were lost. Of those who survived, approximately 225,000 people found themselves without a home. -
Tri-State Tornado - March 18, 1925
In the aftermath, forecasters started to look into developing a tornado warning system that would have spared many lives at the time. -
Okeechobee Hurricane - September 16, 1928
September 16th with sustained 140 mph winds. Such intensity broke a small dike at the lake's south end, resulting in weeks of heavy flooding that claimed at least 2,500 lives. -
Dust Bowl - Early 1930's
a third of the farmers turned to government aid, while around half a million Americans were left homeless. -
Heat Wave of 1980 - Summer of 1980
Agricultural damage tallied an estimated $48 billion due to a massive drought, and 10,000 people died from heat and heat stress-related ailments. -
Heat Wave of 1988 - Summer of 1988
Between 5,000 and 10,000 people succumbed to health complications stemming from the sweltering heat. -
Hurricane Katrina - Aug. 29, 2005
leaving 80 percent of the city under water. Katrina killed at least 1,836 people and inflicted damages estimated at around $125 billion