List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes
Encyclopedia
Costliest known Atlantic Tropical Cyclones as of 2008
(2008 Storm Damage is Estimated in USD)
Billions Name Year
$108.0 Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 
2005
$40.7 Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...

 
1992
$37.6 Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike was the second-costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States, the costliest hurricane ever to impact Cuba and the second most active hurricane to reach the Canadian mainland in the Great Lakes Region after Hurricane Hazel in 1954...

 
2008
$29.1 Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...

 
2005
$18.6 Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Charley lasted from August 9 to August 15, and at its peak intensity it attained 150 mph winds, making it a strong Category 4 hurricane on the...

 
2004
$18.1 Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

 
2004
$15.2 Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle before moving northeastward and ravaging the Mid-Atlantic region as a tropical storm...

 
1972
$14.1 Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...

 
1989
$10.5 Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...

 
2005
$10.4 Hurricane Frances
Hurricane Frances
Hurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto...

 
2004
$10.2 Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert was an extremely powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season and created widespread destruction in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It is the second most intense hurricane ever observed in the Atlantic basin behind only...

 
1988
$10.1 Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene (2011)
Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...

 
2011
$9.4 Hurricane Betsy
Hurricane Betsy
Hurricane Betsy was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. Betsy made its most intense landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into...

 
1965
$8.5 Hurricane Gustav
Hurricane Gustav
The name Gustav has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean:* 1984's Tropical Storm Gustav - Spent most of its existence as a tropical depression hovering over Bermuda, no major damage was reported....

 
2008
$8.2 Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph . The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season. Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch...

 
1998
$8.0 Hurricane Jeanne
Hurricane Jeanne
Hurricane Jeanne was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the season, as well as the third hurricane and fourth named storm of the season to make landfall in Florida...

 
2004
$8.0 Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille was the third and strongest tropical cyclone and second hurricane during the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. The second of three catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century , which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River...

 
1969
$7.9 Hurricane Fifi
Hurricane Fifi
Hurricane Fifi was a catastrophic tropical cyclone that killed between 3,000 and 10,000 people in Honduras in September 1974, ranking it as the fourth deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Originating from a strong tropical wave on September 14, the system steadily tracked...

 
1974
$7.9 Hurricane Georges
Hurricane Georges
Hurricane Georges was a very destructive, powerful and long-lived Cape Verde-type Category 4 hurricane. Georges was the seventh tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season...

 
1998
$6.8 Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane was one of three hurricanes to hit North Carolina during the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season, striking an area that had been hit by Hurricane Connie five days earlier...

 
1955
$6.6 Hurricane Donna
Hurricane Donna
Hurricane Donna in the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season was a Cape Verde-type hurricane which moved across the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, Cuba, The Bahamas, and every state on the East Coast of the United States...

 
1960
$6.5 Hurricane Frederic
Hurricane Frederic
Hurricane Frederic was the sixth tropical cyclone, third hurricane and second major hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season. Frederic was the costliest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. Gulf Coast at that particular time...

 
1979
$6.4 Tropical Storm Allison
Tropical Storm Allison
Tropical Storm Allison was a tropical storm that devastated southeast Texas in June of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. The first storm of the season, Allison lasted an unusually long period of time for a June storm, remaining tropical or subtropical for 15 days...

 
2001

Listed by cost (United States only)

There are several ways to express the monetary cost of a hurricane, cost at the time, by inflation adjusted cost, and cost if the hurricane were to strike today. Pielke et al. (2008) generate the 2005 normalized damage estimate as follows:

, where
D2005 = normalized damages in 2005 dollars
Dy = reported damages in current-year dollars
Iy = inflation adjustment
RWPCy = real wealth per capita adjustment
P2005/y = coastal county population adjustment


Care should be taken not to confuse "economic impact" estimates (often used for modern hurricanes like Katrina) with damage costs; it is the latter that are included in this list (and in all hurricane articles). Note that these charts are only based on damage in the U.S.; the total in many of these storms is higher due to damage in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 or Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, but information for most storms that affected these areas is not consistently available except for very recent systems.

This list does not include any pre-1900 and post-2005 hurricanes. It is thus likely that some of these hurricanes would have caused multi-billion dollar damages, adjusted for today's wealth. For example, the 1893 Sea Islands Hurricane
1893 Sea Islands Hurricane
On August 27, 1893 a major hurricane which came to be known as the Sea Islands Hurricane struck the United States near Savannah, Georgia. It was one of two deadly hurricanes during the 1893 Atlantic hurricane season; the storm killed an estimated 1,000–2,000 people, mostly from storm surge...

 is estimated to about $50 billion in costs if it would hit Georgia today.
Name Year Cost at the time
(in billion USD)
Inflation adjusted cost
(in billion 2004 USD)
Cost adjusted for wealth normalization
(in billion 2005 USD)
Great Miami Hurricane
1926 Miami Hurricane
The 1926 Miami hurricane was a Category 4 hurricane that devastated Miami in September 1926. The storm also caused significant damage in the Florida Panhandle, the U.S. state of Alabama, and the Bahamas...

1926 0.1 2.58 157.0
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

2005 108.0 108.0 108.0
Galveston Hurricane 1900 0.02 0.52 99.4
Galveston Hurricane
1915 Galveston Hurricane
The 1915 Galveston Hurricane was a deadly hurricane that struck Leeward Islands, Hispanola, Cuba and Texas, in mid August of the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season...

1915 0.05 0.92 68.0
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was the third Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States, after the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and Hurricane Camille in 1969. Andrew was the first named storm and only major hurricane of the otherwise inactive 1992 Atlantic hurricane season...

1992 26.5 44.9 55.8
New England Hurricane
New England Hurricane of 1938
The New England Hurricane of 1938 was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869...

1938 0.31 6.2 39.2
Pinar del Río Hurricane 1944 0.1 5.5 38.7
Okeechobee Hurricane
1928 Okeechobee Hurricane
The Okeechobee hurricane, or San Felipe Segundo hurricane, was a deadly hurricane that struck the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Florida in September of the 1928 Atlantic hurricane season...

1928 0.1 1.4 33.6
Hurricane Donna
Hurricane Donna
Hurricane Donna in the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season was a Cape Verde-type hurricane which moved across the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, Cuba, The Bahamas, and every state on the East Coast of the United States...

1960 0.9 3.1 26.8
Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille was the third and strongest tropical cyclone and second hurricane during the 1969 Atlantic hurricane season. The second of three catastrophic Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the United States during the 20th century , which it did near the mouth of the Mississippi River...

1969 1.42 9.1 21.2
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...

2005 20.6 20.6 20.6
Hurricane Betsy
Hurricane Betsy
Hurricane Betsy was a Category 4 hurricane of the 1965 Atlantic hurricane season which caused enormous damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. Betsy made its most intense landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River, causing significant flooding of the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into...

1965 1.42 11.1 17.9
Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane
Hurricane Diane was one of three hurricanes to hit North Carolina during the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season, striking an area that had been hit by Hurricane Connie five days earlier...

1955 0.83 7.2 17.2
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle before moving northeastward and ravaging the Mid-Atlantic region as a tropical storm...

1972 2.1 11.6 17.2
Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South Carolina, as a Category 4 hurricane...

1954 0.38 3.0 16.5
Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley
Hurricane Charley was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. Charley lasted from August 9 to August 15, and at its peak intensity it attained 150 mph winds, making it a strong Category 4 hurricane on the...

2004 15.0 15.0 16.3
Hurricane Carol
Hurricane Carol
Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones to affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and gradually strengthened as it moved northwestward. On August 27, Carol intensified to reach winds of , but weakened...

1954 0.46 3.95 16.1
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

2004 14.2 14.2 15.5
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...

1989 7.0 12.6 15.3
South Florida Hurricane 1949 0.05 2.7 14.7
Hurricane Carla
Hurricane Carla
Hurricane Carla was one of two Category 5 tropical cyclones during the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season. It struck the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, becoming one of the most powerful storms to ever strike the United States. Hurricane Carla was the second most intense storm to ever...

1961 0.33 2.5 14.2
Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane
The Fort Lauderdale Hurricane was an intense Category 5 hurricane that affected the Bahamas, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in September of the 1947 Atlantic hurricane season...

1947 0.11 0.9 13.7
Great Atlantic Hurricane
1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane
The Great Atlantic Hurricane in 1944 was an intense Atlantic hurricane sometimes compared to the New England Hurricane of 1938.-Meteorological history:...

1944 0.1 5.4 13.2
Florida Keys Hurricane
1919 Florida Keys Hurricane
The Florida Keys Hurricane or Atlantic Gulf Hurricane of 1919 was an intense Atlantic hurricane, killing 772 people as it moved through the Florida Keys and Texas. The second tropical cyclone of the 1919 hurricane season, it moved in the proximity of the eastern Greater Antilles and Bahamas...

1919 0.02 0.2 13.2
Southeast Florida Hurricane
1945 Southeast Florida hurricane
The 1945 Southeast Florida hurricane was the most intense tropical cyclone of the 1945 Atlantic hurricane season. It made landfall on Homestead, Florida with estimated sustained winds of 140 mph . The ninth tropical storm, third Atlantic hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season, it...

1945 0.05 0.6 12.3
Hurricane Frederic
Hurricane Frederic
Hurricane Frederic was the sixth tropical cyclone, third hurricane and second major hurricane of the 1979 Atlantic hurricane season. Frederic was the costliest hurricane to ever hit the U.S. Gulf Coast at that particular time...

1979 2.3 6.5 10.3
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...

2005 10.0 9.4 10.0
Hurricane Frances
Hurricane Frances
Hurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto...

2004 8.9 8.9 9.7
Chesapeake Potomac Hurricane
1933 Chesapeake Potomac Hurricane
The 1933 Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane was the eighth storm and third hurricane of the very active 1933 Atlantic hurricane season. The August storm formed in the central Atlantic, where it moved west-northwest...

1933 0.03 0.4 8.2
Hurricane Dora
Hurricane Dora
Hurricane Dora was the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall over the extreme northeast coast of Florida. Dora was also the first storm to produce hurricane force winds to Jacksonville, Florida in the almost 80 years of record keeping. Dora killed five people and left over...

1964 0.28 1.9 7.7
Hurricane Georges
Hurricane Georges
Hurricane Georges was a very destructive, powerful and long-lived Cape Verde-type Category 4 hurricane. Georges was the seventh tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season...

1998 5.9 7.3 7.6
Hurricane Jeanne
Hurricane Jeanne
Hurricane Jeanne was the deadliest hurricane in the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the season, as well as the third hurricane and fourth named storm of the season to make landfall in Florida...

2004 6.9 6.9 7.5
Hurricane Alicia
Hurricane Alicia
Hurricane Alicia was the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Alicia was the third depression, the first tropical storm, and the only major hurricane of the 1983 Atlantic hurricane season...

1983 2.0 4.38 7.5
Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd
Hurricane Floyd was the sixth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season. Floyd triggered the third largest evacuation in US history when 2.6 million coastal residents of five states were ordered from their homes as it approached...

1999 4.5 5.76 6.7
Tropical Storm Allison
Tropical Storm Allison
Tropical Storm Allison was a tropical storm that devastated southeast Texas in June of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. The first storm of the season, Allison lasted an unusually long period of time for a June storm, remaining tropical or subtropical for 15 days...

2001 5.0 6.0 6.6
Vagabond Hurricane
1903 Vagabond hurricane
The 1903 New Jersey hurricane, also known as the Vagabond Hurricane by The Press of Atlantic City, is the second most recent Atlantic hurricane to make first landfall in the state of New Jersey, preceding Hurricane Irene. The fourth hurricane of the season, the cyclone was first observed on...

1903 0.008 0.18 6.5
Yankee Hurricane
1935 Yankee hurricane
The Yankee Hurricane of 1935 was a rare Category 1 hurricane that affected the Bahamas and South Florida in November. It remains the only tropical cyclone to affect Miami from the northeast in November. The sixth tropical cyclone and fifth hurricane of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season, it...

1935 0.005 0.08 6.4
Hurricane Opal
Hurricane Opal
Hurricane Opal was a Category 4 hurricane that formed in the Gulf of Mexico in September 1995.Opal was the ninth hurricane and the strongest of the abnormally active 1995 Atlantic hurricane season...

1995 3.0 4.32 6.1
Galveston Hurricane 1932 0.007 0.1 5.9
Mobile Hurricane 1916 0.0015 0.05 5.8
Hurricane Fran
Hurricane Fran
Hurricane Fran was a powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season that made landfall near Cape Fear in North Carolina at Category 3 strength. Throughout the eastern United States, early statistics on Fran reported 27 deaths and $3.2 billion in damage...

1996 3.2 4.53 5.8
Hurricane Celia
Hurricane Celia
Hurricane Celia was the third named tropical cyclone, the second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1970 Atlantic hurricane season. Celia began as a tropical wave which formed off the eastern coast of Africa on July 23. The wave reached the eastern Caribbean Sea on July 28 and began to...

1970 0.45 2.76 5.6
Hurricane Cleo
Hurricane Cleo
Hurricane Cleo was the third named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 1964 Atlantic hurricane season. Cleo was one of the longest-lived storms of the season...

1964 0.2 1.4 5.2
Hurricane King 1950 0.03 0.26 4.4
Hurricane Beulah
Hurricane Beulah
Hurricane Beulah was the second tropical storm, second hurricane, and only major hurricane during the 1967 Atlantic hurricane season. It tracked through the Caribbean, struck the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico as a major hurricane, and moved west-northwest into the Gulf of Mexico, briefly gaining...

1967 0.15 1.1 4.0
Hurricane Isabel
Hurricane Isabel
Hurricane Isabel was the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. The ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the season, Isabel formed near the Cape Verde Islands from a tropical wave on September 6 in the tropical Atlantic Ocean...

2003 3.37 3.64 4.0
Hurricane Juan
Hurricane Juan (1985)
Hurricane Juan was a hurricane that formed in October 1985 and looped twice near the Louisiana coast, causing torrential flooding for several days. Juan was the costliest hurricane of the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season, and at the time was among the costliest of all historical U.S. hurricanes...

1985 1.5 3.1 3.9
Hurricane Audrey
Hurricane Audrey
Hurricane Audrey was the first major hurricane of the 1957 Atlantic hurricane season. Audrey was the only storm to reach Category 4 status in June. A powerful hurricane, Audrey caused catastrophic damage across eastern Texas and western Louisiana. It then affected the South Central United States as...

1957 0.147 1.0 3.8
Hurricane Ione
Hurricane Ione
Hurricane Ione was a strong, Category 3 hurricane that affected North Carolina in September 1955, bringing high winds and significant rainfall. It came on the heels of Hurricanes Connie and Diane, and compounded problems already caused by the two earlier hurricanes...

1955 0.088 0.7 3.7
Nassau Hurricane
Nassau Hurricane of 1926
The Nassau Hurricane of 1926, also known as the Bahamas-Florida Hurricane of July 1926 and Hurricane San Liborio, was a destructive Category 4 hurricane that affected the Bahamas at peak intensity...

1926 0.008 0.09 3.7


Hurricane Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in U.S history, with damages totaling $108.0 billion (2005 USD)

Hurricane Andrew was the second costliest tropical cyclone in U.S history, with damages totaling $40.7 billion (2008 USD)

Hurricane Ike was the third costliest tropical cyclone in U.S history, with damages totaling $27.0 billion (2008 USD)

See also

  • List of tropical cyclones
  • List of Pacific hurricanes
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