The most common disasters in the United States are from storms. But train wrecks, disease, and even
mining accidents are deadly. Sometimes, they prove to be even deadlier than the storms themselves.
On March 21, 1932, a series of tornadoes began that left trails of devastation throughout the
South. There were likely more than 20 tornadoes that day which cost hundreds of lives. The worst
damage was in Alabama, where a total of 268 people were killed by the twisters.
According to one survivor, there was no sign that the weather was about to become deadly
that morning. They only became aware of the danger when they heard a roaring sound outside.
"He didn't have time to do anything. He opened
that door and it hit about the time he said, 'My God, it's a cyclone.'"
Reports described entire buildings crushed and swept away. In the aftermath, tent cities were set
up to provide temporary shelter for the thousands whose homes had been damaged or destroyed.
Earthquakes are measured on a scale of one to ten. The quake that shook Alaska in 1964
had a magnitude of 9.2, making it the most powerful earthquake ever to hit North America.
The disaster began with a strange grinding sound, then the ground opened up. The shaking
lasted for four minutes. 15 people were killed by the earthquake itself, but subsequent
tsunamis and landslides killed another 116 throughout Alaska, Oregon, and California.
The disaster permanently altered the physical landscape of some regions
of Alaska. In some areas, the land was raised as much as 30 feet high.
From September 4 to 5, 1970, tropical storm Norma drenched Arizona with record-breaking
torrential rains. In some areas, more than 11 inches of rain fell on one day,
leading to deadly flash flooding – the worst in the state's history.
The fact that tropical storm Norma hit on the holiday weekend only compounded the danger,
as people were celebrating outdoors. Campgrounds, in particular, were deadly,
as flash floods washed away vehicles and campers alike.
Fourteen of the 23 deaths in the storm took place at campgrounds in Tonto Creek
Basin. Buildings, roads, and bridges were also destroyed in the floods,
costing the modern equivalent of more than $7.6 million in damages.
In 1927, the Mississippi River flooded, drowning 27,000 miles across seven states. Hundreds of
thousands were left homeless, and anywhere from 250 to 1000 people may have lost their lives.
"It had a bigger impact than Katrina. It flooded out roughly one percent of
the entire population of the United States."
The flood was a result of land mismanagement, particularly deforestation of the upper Midwest,
which prevented the soil from properly absorbing rainfall. Many of the levees along the Mississippi
River collapsed. It took months for the floodwaters to recede. An estimated 750,000
people's homes were destroyed. Many of these were Black Americans working on plantations.
Rescuers left these Black workers for last, leaving some of them stranded for days.
The flood sparked widespread change in the country. Many Black Americans
moved to cities in the North after the destruction in what has been called the
"Great Migration." In the aftermath, the support of the Republican party decreased,
as Republicans had been in power and mismanaged the disaster.
The earthquake on April 18, 1906 remains one of the most devastating in recorded history.
The ground shook violently for almost a full minute and could be felt from Oregon to Nevada.
The epicenter was near the most populated city on the West Coast: San Francisco.
The tremors did terrible damage to the city and its population. Power
lines fell and water pipes ruptured. Fires spread throughout the city and
burned for three days. Violent aftershocks continued for days.
"With this film, you see the human element of what
happened. Disaster strikes and everybody's lives are changed."
Exactly how many were killed in the earthquake is unknown, but it's estimated that approximately
3000 people lost their lives, almost all within the city of San Francisco.
In July, 1976, the town of Estes Park, Colorado experienced more than a foot
of rain in just four hours, the amount of rainfall the area would normally experience
in a year. People who were there described the air being so full of water that it was hard to
breathe. This bizarre rainstorm led to one of history's most devastating flash floods.
The storm came at the worst possible time. It was the 100th anniversary of Colorado's founding,
and about 3,500 campers had gathered to celebrate
outdoors in Big Thompson Canyon, when the water came rushing in.
"No sirens. No signals. The only way that people
learned about the potential of the flood was through word of mouth."
One witness stated that in just 20 seconds, the water was waist-high. The flooding washed
away vehicles, trees, and people. A total of 144 people are known to have been killed by the flood.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was called "The Greatest Show on Earth." The troupe
was so popular it was allowed to travel by train during World War II, in the belief that the circus
would raise U.S. morale. The show was performed under an iconic tent, the big top. Unfortunately,
the canvas had been weatherproofed using paraffin wax and gasoline, which is highly flammable.
On July 6, 1944, there were 8,000 fans, many of them children, in the tent when the fire
started. Performers and workers noticed the blaze first and attempted to extinguish the
flames, but it was too late. Pieces of the burning tent rained down on the audience.
"Because the circus was underway, animals in their cages were already
being moved into position. And so they ended up blocking the exits."
Many were able to escape before the entire structure collapsed, crushing those still
inside. The destruction lasted just ten minutes, but killed 167 people and injured
hundreds more. In the ensuing investigation, organizers were convicted of manslaughter,
and Ringling Bros. was ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages.
In 1878, a powerful tropical storm swept across the country, causing destruction from North
Carolina to New England, ripping the roofs off of 150 buildings as far north as New Jersey.
In Delaware, there was extensive damage to crops, infrastructure, homes, and businesses. Delaware
rarely experiences hurricanes, but the Gale of 1878 brought massive amounts of rainfall,
devastating winds, and deadly flooding to the state. Delaware Bay was hit
particularly hard. Four ships were sunk by the heavy winds, and another capsized.
In total, it's believed that 18 people were killed in Delaware, with approximately 70 others believed
to have lost their lives in other states and more than 175 deaths in storm-related shipwrecks.
In summer 1928, the area around Lake Okeechobee experienced unusually heavy rains,
raising the water level by 3 feet. Then, on September 16, a hurricane hit the coast.
The hurricane was one of history's deadliest,
causing damage from West Africa to Canada. In Guadeloupe, the storm devastated crops,
destroyed homes, and killed 1,200 people. The death toll in Florida would be even higher.
The area around Lake Okeechobee was particularly fertile, and a tremendous number of Black migrant
farm workers were working there. When 150 mph winds reached the already brimming
Lake Okeechobee, floodwaters surged through the region. More than 2,500 people died in
Florida. The majority were workers in the area surrounding Lake Okeechobee.
In 1936, there was a deadly outbreak of 17 tornadoes in the Southeast that
led to flash flooding and fires. Two tornadoes reached the city of
Gainesville and merged, forming one monster storm.
Gainesville was home to the Cooper Pants Factory,
which employed about 125 young women and girls. The storm caused the building
to collapse. Then a fire started, trapping more than 70 workers inside.
Many smaller buildings within the city collapsed and burned as well, making it
nearly impossible to know for certain how many people were killed. But at least 200 people are
believed to have died. Thousands of survivors were injured or left homeless in Gainesville.
The U.S. government imposed heavy sanctions and trade embargoes on
Japan after the Nanking Massacre, and negotiations were going nowhere. It was
believed that the Japanese government might order an attack on Singapore,
the Dutch East Indies, or Indochina. Instead, the attack came in Hawaii.
The U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor, located close to the capital city of Honolulu,
wasn't considered a likely target,
even though almost the entire Pacific fleet was at Pearl Harbor, and destroying it before
the war officially began would give Japan a massive advantage at sea. And they knew it.
On December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked
the U.S. naval base. More than 300 U.S. planes were destroyed,
along with around 20 ships. The Pacific fleet wasn't completely destroyed.
Vital aircraft carriers were actually on the mainland at the time. Still,
2403 people were killed during the attack, including 103 civilians,
and a thousand more were wounded. The following day, the United States declared war on Japan.
The Sunshine Mine in Idaho was the deepest and richest silver mine in the U.S. On May 2,
1972, an ordinary day of work at the mine turned deadly. The first sign of danger
was the smell of smoke. A fire started on the air intake side of the mine and was sending
carbon monoxide throughout the tunnels. Workers above ground tried to warn the miners below,
but most wouldn't hear the warning before the smoke reached them.
"In 1972, mine rescue equipment was primitive. The Sunshine mine used Mackays,
which weighed over 40 pounds and provided only two hours of air."
After evacuating 80 men successfully, the hoist operator facilitating the
rescue died of smoke inhalation. By the time outside help arrived, 91 miners were dead.
The 1925 "Tri-State Tornado" left a trail of devastation
throughout Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
"We know it was terrifying, and we know it did not look like a tornado.
It was a mile wide and wrapped in dust and debris."
A total of 695 people lost their lives across three states.
Tornadoes have always been a threat in Illinois, but the damage done by the
1925 storm was unparalleled. Illinois was hit the hardest. In some areas,
there were winds between 60 and 75 mph. In the city of Murphysboro alone, 234 people were killed.
This is believed to be the highest ever death toll from a single community in this type of
disaster. Almost a century later, the tri-state storm remains the deadliest in U.S. history.
In 1918, two trains collided. One was an empty passenger train whose engineer had
fallen asleep. The other train wasn't moving at the time of the collision,
but it was full of circus performers and showmen, including trapeze artists, strongmen, and clowns.
At the time, train cars were predominantly wood and highly flammable. After the crash,
a fire broke out, trapping survivors inside.
Many of the 86 dead were never identified, both because their bodies were burned beyond
recognition and because circus people were often known only by their nicknames. At the gravesite,
a large number of the headstones read "Unknown." Others are engraved
with stage names – like "Smiley" – or job titles such as "4 Horse Driver."
It was an unusually warm day in June 1860 when the storm hit. By the afternoon,
two-inch hailstones were raining down on Eastern Iowa. The tornado's winds were reported to be
so loud that it was impossible to hear anything else as it ripped through the counties of Hardin,
Linn, Jones, and Clinton. The majority of fatalities were in one community: Camanche, Iowa.
The 1860 Camanche Tornado remains the most deadly
in Iowa history. As described in an 1860 report from The New York Times,
the town was "literally blown to pieces," leaving few homes and businesses standing.
Many were trapped when their homes collapsed, and hundreds of survivors suffered terrible
injuries. The storms leveled buildings, killed livestock, and left approximately 140 people dead.
Thanks to The Wizard of Oz, many already associate Kansas with twisters,
but the history of tornadoes in the state is a devastating one. The most deadly hit on May 25,
1955. It's come to be known as the Udall tornado, named for a community it nearly wiped off the map.
"It took the community building down here. Took pretty near all
the residence in town and all the businesses in town."
Survivors reported that there was so much dust it was impossible to breathe, and the sky was
lit up by lightning. The entire south side of the town was obliterated, and 80 people
were killed almost instantly– with another seven perishing thereafter. Almost 20% of the town's
population died and every family lost at least one member to the storm. Hundreds more were injured.
While there had been storms in Kansas and Oklahoma for three days prior,
the local news assured the people of Udall that a dangerous storm was unlikely that
day. In the aftermath of the destruction, new methods of tracking and reporting on
severe weather threats were implemented to better warn communities in the future.
In December 2021, unusual weather patterns caused heavy snow in the upper Midwest and
sent deadly storms ripping through Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi,
Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Severe Tornado clusters in December are very rare,
and this event was particularly extreme. It's believed that the worst of the tornadoes may
have remained on the ground longer than any other in recorded history.
It's believed that the storms did billions of dollars worth of damage
and that thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed.
In total, 57 people died in Western Kentucky, and one additional death is
attributed to the storm - a man suffered a fatal heart attack while cleaning up debris.
In October 1893, the Chenière Caminada hurricane swept across
southeastern Louisiana. It would be one of the deadliest natural
disasters in the history of the United States, killing thousands of people.
The hurricane made landfall at a small fishing village called Chenière Caminada.
The community was unique and diverse, including Creoles, Acadians, Italians, and Germans.
The majority were Catholics who spoke French as a common language. Only about 1,500 people lived
in Cheniere Caminada. When the storm hit, 779 were killed in the storm surge or in collapsing
homes. In total, it's believed that the "Great October Storm" killed approximately 2,000 people.
In 1919, near Onawa, Maine, two trains collided head-on,
killing 23 people and injuring 50 more. One of these was a freight train. The other was carrying
nearly 300 Scottish and English immigrants. Several of the dead were young children.
According to Railroad Wrecks, the freight train's engineer wasn't
aware that there would be three sections of the passenger train.
He thought the freight train could go after the first two sections had passed.
After the impact, the engine, the baggage car, and two passenger cars caught fire.
More than half of the survivors suffered terrible injuries, including broken bones.
In 1913, a 700-ton steamer called Alum Chine was loading up at Fort Carroll on the Patapsco River.
Witnesses described hearing a roar and seeing a sudden flash, hundreds of feet in the air.
A mushroom cloud formed over the water. The explosion was so powerful that people
a hundred miles away believed they'd felt an earthquake. The ship's cargo had been dynamite,
intended for use in building the Panama Canal. It exploded without warning.
Debris rained down on the water. Many of those onboard were killed instantly,
and those who survived were at risk of dying in the fires, in the water,
or from the flying shrapnel. It's believed between 40 and 50 people were killed in the explosion,
and 60 to 75 more were injured, some of whom died of their injuries later.
In 1721, a deadly outbreak of smallpox broke out in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The disease
originated on a British ship in Boston Harbor and would become the deadliest disaster in the
state's history, killing approximately 850 people. But the death toll could have been even higher.
Inoculation was rare in the colonies, but Puritan clergyman and writer Cotton Mather
had been told about it by a person he had enslaved: a West African man named Onesimus.
"The procedure consisted of rubbing pus from an infected person inside the open wound of another."
Mather argued fiercely for inoculating the people of Boston against the deadly
disease. Inoculation in 1721 was far more dangerous than modern vaccination
but still less dangerous than smallpox. Over time,
inoculation against smallpox became increasingly standard in Boston, and mortality rates decreased.
The Chicago Fire famously destroyed three square miles of the city and killed hundreds,
but it wasn't the only deadly fire in October, 1871. While Chicago was burning,
deadly wildfires blazed through the Midwest. Some of the largest were in
Michigan. It's believed that more than 500 people were killed in the wildfires that
struck Michigan, with the worst damage in Holland, Port Huron, and Manistee.
"Most of these large devastating fires were the result of the brush
left during logging combined with extreme drought and high winds."
It's unknown exactly what started these terrible fires,
but, while the exact cause is unknown, weather conditions in the months before
had turned the Midwest into a tinderbox. Any spark had the potential to start a wildfire.
In 1918, northern Minnesota was experiencing drier weather than it had in half a century.
When the wind caught a spark from a train traveling through the state and blew it into
the water-deprived pine forests, a fire began. It would become the deadliest in Minnesota history.
Soon the whole forest was ablaze. Entire towns, including Cloquet, Moose Lake,
and Kettle River were destroyed, and the city of Duluth was heavily damaged. Those caught in the
path of the wildfire had few options for escape. Some attempted to drive away from the fire,
but they weren't fast enough, leading to deadly car crashes as fire consumed the vehicles. Some
managed to escape by train, while other survivors were forced to remain in rivers and lakes until
the flames died down. It's believed that approximately 1,000 people were killed.
In August, 2005, the United States was hit by an extremely powerful and deadly
storm known as Hurricane Katrina. While the majority of coverage focused on the
devastation in Louisiana, where over 1,500 people were killed,
the 238 deaths in Mississippi made Hurricane Katrina the state's greatest catastrophe.
Katrina brought 175 mph winds and a deadly storm surge to Mississippi.
Many who evacuated before the storm survived but returned to find that
their friends and neighbors had been killed and their houses obliterated by the storm.
Hurricane Katrina remains one of the deadliest storms to ever hit the U.S.,
having killed 1833 people in total and caused more than $158,000,000,000 worth of damage.
The city of Joplin, Missouri is just outside what's known as "Tornado
Alley," the region of the United States most prone to twisters. In the 1970s,
multiple storms ripped through Joplin, spreading death and destruction. In 2011,
a record-breaking twister known as the "Joplin tornado" became the single
deadliest and most expensive tornado ever recorded in the United States.
While the buildings in Joplin were up to code, they were not prepared
for the storm's 200 mph winds. Thousands of buildings were destroyed. Billions of
dollars worth of property, from homes to hospitals, were wrecked. It's believed
that the Joplin tornado killed 161 people and injured more than a thousand others.