Elaine Spencer
EF3
Here's a topic I stumbled across at MSN that I thought might be worth discussing here. This is a slide show that purports to list the all-time worst natural disasters in each of the 50 states:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/worst-natural-disasters-in-each-state/ss-AA9xKCy
Some are obvious while others are rather surprising. For example, what was the worst natural disaster ever in Illinois? Most of you would probably guess the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, but it turns out that the 1995 Chicago heat wave was far deadlier, with over 700 deaths. There are also some real head-scratchers...
If you don't want to click through the slide show, here is a quick list. I'd be interested in seeing your thoughts or suggestions about the events listed and whether other events should have been listed.
AL -- 2011 tornado outbreak (238 deaths)
AK -- 1964 Good Friday earthquake (139 deaths)
AZ -- 2011 Wallow wildfire (no deaths but 841 sq mi burned)
AR -- 1927 Mississippi River flood (246 deaths)
CA -- 1906 SF earthquake (3,000 deaths, although official death tolls are much lower)
CO -- 1976 Big Thompson Canyon flood (146 deaths)
CT -- 1938 New England hurricane (600 total deaths throughout New England)
DE -- 2006 flood (16 deaths)
FL -- 1928 Okeechobee hurricane (1,836 deaths)
GA -- 1893 Sea Islands hurricane (1,000-2,000 total deaths)
HI -- 1946 earthquake/tsunami (159 deaths)
ID -- 1910 Great Fire (87 total deaths, not all in ID)
IL -- 1995 Chicago heat wave (750 deaths)
IN -- 1913 Indianapolis flood (5 deaths)
IA -- 1940 Armstice Day blizzard (154 deaths "throughout the region" and thousands of cattle lost)
KS -- 1955 Udall tornado (80 deaths)
KY -- 2009 ice storm (35 deaths)
LA -- 1893 Cheniere Caminada hurricane (779 deaths)
ME -- 1998 ice storm (no deaths)
MD -- 1963 Pan Am crash (81 deaths, listed as natural disaster b/c plane was hit by lightning)
MA -- 1938 New England hurricane (99 deaths)
MI -- 1881 "Thumb" forest fire (282 deaths)
MN -- 1918 Cloquet forest fire (452 deaths)
MS -- 2005 Hurricane Katrina (238 deaths)
MO -- 2011 Joplin tornado (158 deaths)
MT -- 1910 Great Fire (87 deaths, not all in MT)
NE -- 1949 blizzard (76 deaths)
NV -- 2005 heat wave (17 deaths)
NH - 1938 New England hurricane (13 deaths)
NJ -- 2012 Hurricane Sandy (43 deaths)
NM -- 2000 Cero Grande fire (no deaths, 400 homes lost)
NY -- 1888 blizzard (200 deaths in NYC alone)
NC -- 1954 Hurricane Hazel (19 deaths)
ND -- 1997 Red River flood (no deaths listed)
OH -- 1913 Great Flood (420-470 deaths)
OK -- 1947 Woodward/Glazier/Higgins tornadoes (113 deaths in OK, 181 total)
OR -- 1903 Heppner flash flood (247 deaths)
PA -- 1889 Johnstown flood (2,200 deaths)
RI -- 1938 New England hurricane (100 deaths)
SC -- 1893 Sea Islands hurricane (1,000-2,000 total deaths)
SD -- 1972 Rapid City flood (238 deaths)
TN -- 1952 tornado outbreak (67 deaths)
TX -- 1900 Galveston hurricane (6,000-12,000 deaths)
UT -- 1999 Salt Lake City tornado (1 death)
VT -- 1927 Great Flood (84 deaths)
VA -- 1969 Hurricane Camille (153 deaths, all from inland flash flooding)
WA -- 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption (57 deaths)
WV -- 1950 Great Appalachian snowstorm (160 deaths)
WI -- 1871 Peshtigo forest fire (1,500 deaths; occurred same night as Great Chicago Fire)
WY -- 1937 Blackwater fire (15 deaths, all firefighters)
One VERY obvious flaw in this list is that the authors seems not to have heard of the 1974 Super Outbreak, which killed far more than 5 people in IN and, I think, more than 35 people in KY. Not to mention that Katrina killed at least 1,500 people in LA, and I believe there have been tornado outbreaks that killed more than 19 people in NC as well.
Anyway, have at it.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/worst-natural-disasters-in-each-state/ss-AA9xKCy
Some are obvious while others are rather surprising. For example, what was the worst natural disaster ever in Illinois? Most of you would probably guess the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, but it turns out that the 1995 Chicago heat wave was far deadlier, with over 700 deaths. There are also some real head-scratchers...
If you don't want to click through the slide show, here is a quick list. I'd be interested in seeing your thoughts or suggestions about the events listed and whether other events should have been listed.
AL -- 2011 tornado outbreak (238 deaths)
AK -- 1964 Good Friday earthquake (139 deaths)
AZ -- 2011 Wallow wildfire (no deaths but 841 sq mi burned)
AR -- 1927 Mississippi River flood (246 deaths)
CA -- 1906 SF earthquake (3,000 deaths, although official death tolls are much lower)
CO -- 1976 Big Thompson Canyon flood (146 deaths)
CT -- 1938 New England hurricane (600 total deaths throughout New England)
DE -- 2006 flood (16 deaths)
FL -- 1928 Okeechobee hurricane (1,836 deaths)
GA -- 1893 Sea Islands hurricane (1,000-2,000 total deaths)
HI -- 1946 earthquake/tsunami (159 deaths)
ID -- 1910 Great Fire (87 total deaths, not all in ID)
IL -- 1995 Chicago heat wave (750 deaths)
IN -- 1913 Indianapolis flood (5 deaths)
IA -- 1940 Armstice Day blizzard (154 deaths "throughout the region" and thousands of cattle lost)
KS -- 1955 Udall tornado (80 deaths)
KY -- 2009 ice storm (35 deaths)
LA -- 1893 Cheniere Caminada hurricane (779 deaths)
ME -- 1998 ice storm (no deaths)
MD -- 1963 Pan Am crash (81 deaths, listed as natural disaster b/c plane was hit by lightning)
MA -- 1938 New England hurricane (99 deaths)
MI -- 1881 "Thumb" forest fire (282 deaths)
MN -- 1918 Cloquet forest fire (452 deaths)
MS -- 2005 Hurricane Katrina (238 deaths)
MO -- 2011 Joplin tornado (158 deaths)
MT -- 1910 Great Fire (87 deaths, not all in MT)
NE -- 1949 blizzard (76 deaths)
NV -- 2005 heat wave (17 deaths)
NH - 1938 New England hurricane (13 deaths)
NJ -- 2012 Hurricane Sandy (43 deaths)
NM -- 2000 Cero Grande fire (no deaths, 400 homes lost)
NY -- 1888 blizzard (200 deaths in NYC alone)
NC -- 1954 Hurricane Hazel (19 deaths)
ND -- 1997 Red River flood (no deaths listed)
OH -- 1913 Great Flood (420-470 deaths)
OK -- 1947 Woodward/Glazier/Higgins tornadoes (113 deaths in OK, 181 total)
OR -- 1903 Heppner flash flood (247 deaths)
PA -- 1889 Johnstown flood (2,200 deaths)
RI -- 1938 New England hurricane (100 deaths)
SC -- 1893 Sea Islands hurricane (1,000-2,000 total deaths)
SD -- 1972 Rapid City flood (238 deaths)
TN -- 1952 tornado outbreak (67 deaths)
TX -- 1900 Galveston hurricane (6,000-12,000 deaths)
UT -- 1999 Salt Lake City tornado (1 death)
VT -- 1927 Great Flood (84 deaths)
VA -- 1969 Hurricane Camille (153 deaths, all from inland flash flooding)
WA -- 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption (57 deaths)
WV -- 1950 Great Appalachian snowstorm (160 deaths)
WI -- 1871 Peshtigo forest fire (1,500 deaths; occurred same night as Great Chicago Fire)
WY -- 1937 Blackwater fire (15 deaths, all firefighters)
One VERY obvious flaw in this list is that the authors seems not to have heard of the 1974 Super Outbreak, which killed far more than 5 people in IN and, I think, more than 35 people in KY. Not to mention that Katrina killed at least 1,500 people in LA, and I believe there have been tornado outbreaks that killed more than 19 people in NC as well.
Anyway, have at it.