As Hurricane Sandy makes landfall on the East Coast, here’s a look back at other dramatic hurricanes in American history.
Galveston, Texas Hurricane, September 1900
This hurricane was the deadliest in U.S. history—the estimated death toll was 8000 (to compare, 1800 people died during Hurricane Katrina).
Damage to a church.
The hurricane, which had a storm surge of 15 feet, also destroyed a public school.
Workers recovering bodies, which were then burned.
The New England Hurricane of 1938
Before Sandy, this storm—nicknamed the Long Island Express, because it actually reshaped part of the island’s coastline—was the most powerful hurricane at this latitude.
Damage on a street in Keene, New Hampshire.
Debris along a New England Shoreline.
The Connecticut River overflowed.
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A couple sits near the wreckage of their home in Highland Park, Rhode Island.
Hurricane Carol, August 1954
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A man holds onto a tree by the seashore against severe winds during Hurricane Carol’s assault on the Northeastern seaboard, Brooklyn, New York.
Flooding in New England. Carol came about under similar meteorological circumstances as the 1938 hurricane. At the time, this storm was the third costliest in U.S. history.
Hurricane Donna, August and September 1960
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A fire tender being driven through a flooded street in New York street in the wake of Hurricane Donna.
Hurricane Betsy, August and September 1965
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A Miami Beach resident emerges from his home and braves high winds and waist-deep water to assess the damage that Hurricane Betsy has done to his property. The storm caused caused $1.42 billion worth of damage in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana, earning the storm the nickname “Billion Dollar Betsy.”
A view from inside the eye of the storm.
Hurricane Hugo, September 1989
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Hurricane Hugo slams into the eastern coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Wind gusts of 140 mph and heavy rains ripped through the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, before the storm struck land again in South Carolina on September 22. It was a Cape Verde-type storm; hurricanes of this type form off the coast of Africa and tend to be very powerful because they have a lot of warm water to fuel them before they hit land.
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