New List of the Costliest U.S. Hurricanes Includes 2017's Harvey, Irma, Maria

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The revised list of costliest U.S. hurricanes released Friday by the National Hurricane Center and National Centers for Environmental Information estimates that total U.S. losses from Hurricane Harvey total $125 billion.

Harvey was only the second hurricane in U.S. history – Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the other – to inflict more than $100 billion in damage.

Hurricane Maria's damage was estimated at $90 billion. Hurricane Irma's damage estimates came in at $50 billion.

(MORE: Moments We'll Never Forget About 2017)

When adjusted for inflation, 2017's big three hurricanes were three of the five costliest hurricanes in U.S. history since 1900. They accounted for over one quarter trillion dollars in insured and uninsured losses, according to the NHC and NCEI.

The record-smashing 2005 season also has three of the top 10 costliest hurricanes, after 2017's big three. Hurricane Ivan remains the only hurricane from the infamous 2004 hurricane season clinging to the top 10 list. 

(MORE: 10 Most Extreme Hurricane Seasons Prior to 2017)

Bumped out of the top 10 costliest hurricane list, thanks to Harvey, Irma and Maria were the following hurricanes (2017 inflation-adjusted dollars):

• Hurricane Charley (2004): $21.1 billion; Category 4 landfall, swath of wind damage across Florida
• Hurricane Irene (2011): $15 billion; catastrophic inland flooding in parts of the Northeast, New England
• Hurricane Hugo (1989): $14.1 billion; Category 4 landfall just up the coast from Charleston, South Carolina

Here is the current top 10 U.S. costliest hurricane list, through the 2017 season, according to NHC and NCEI, adjusted for inflation to 2017 dollars.

10. Hurricane Rita (2005): $23.7 Billion

Hurricane Rita slammed into the Texas and Louisiana border as a Category 3 hurricane in late September 2005.

Significant wind damage, storm surge flooding and inland flooding occurred in portions of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

While Rita did take a turn to the east, sparing metro Houston and Galveston, southwest Louisiana and the Beaumont-Port Arthur areas took a direct hit. The towns of Holly Beach, Cameron, Creole, and Grand Cheniere were wiped out.

Storm surge also flooded many parts of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas.

(MORE: Rita Should Never Be Forgotten)

9. Hurricane Wilma (2005): $24.3 Billion

Wilma was the fifth in a line of hurricanes that made landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, but that doesn't mean its damage lagged behind the rest. 

Wilma tore across south Florida with widespread damaging winds and some flooding in late October. According to the National Hurricane Center report, Wilma caused the largest disruption to electrical service ever experienced in Florida, at the time.

Wilma also marked its spot in the meteorological history books by having the lowest pressure - 882 millibars - ever recorded in a hurricane when it was at Category 5 intensity in the northwest Caribbean Sea.

8. Hurricane Ivan (2004): $27.1 Billion

A little more than a month after Hurricane Charley ravaged the central Florida Peninsula in 2004, Hurricane Ivan made landfall near the border of southern Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle.

Ivan produced a significant amount of wind and storm surge damage along the Florida Panhandle and Alabama coasts. From there, Ivan went on to produce wind and flood damage well inland from Georgia all the way to Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

Another legacy of Ivan was the large amount of tornadoes it spawned. The final total of 120 is a record for the most tornadoes produced by any tropical storm or hurricane in U.S. history.

7. Hurricane Ike (2008): $34.8 Billion

Ike may have been only a Category 2 hurricane at landfall along the upper Texas coast, but its destruction was massive, thanks to its size.

Ike was a very large hurricane that generated a huge storm surge along portions of the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Homes were completely wiped off their foundations on the Bolivar Peninsula, southeast of Houston.

Another legacy of Ike was its inland wind damage, occurring in a swath in portions of Arkansas, northwest Tennessee, southern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

6. Hurricane Andrew (1992): $47.8 Billion

The sole remaining hurricane from the 20th century on the list, Andrew was a small hurricane but with extreme winds estimated to be Category 5 strength at landfall along the southeast Florida coast.

After striking southern Florida, Andrew made a second landfall in south-central Louisiana as a Category 3 hurricane.

At the time, Andrew was the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history.

5. Hurricane Irma (2017): $50 Billion

One of the most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record, Irma delivered a devastating strike on the Virgin Islands, particularly St. Thomas and St. John, as a Category 5 hurricane with 185 mph winds in early September 2017 after devastating the island of Barbuda.

Irma’s Category 4 landfall was the most damaging strike on Florida since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Storm surge in the Florida Keys was officially reported 5 to 8 feet above normal ground level. Services were knocked out to a vast majority of residents in the lower and middle Keys, with some estimates of up to 93 percent of power customers being off the power grid during the storm.

The hurricane pushed northward along the Interstate 75 corridor through the overnight hours Sept. 10 and 11. Wind gusts caused widespread damage across peninsular and northern Florida and into parts of central and southern Georgia. Historic storm surge and more than a foot of rain in spots caused record-breaking flooding along Florida's Atlantic coast, in northeastern Florida’s St. John’s River and even as far north as Charleston Harbor.

(MORE: Irma Recap | Most Unforgettable Moments)

4. Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy (2012): $70.2 Billion

Similar to Hurricane Ike in 2008, Sandy was another very large hurricane with an expansive wind field.

The large wind field of Sandy sent a destructive storm surge into parts of coastal New Jersey and New York. A total of 650,000 homes were either damaged or destroyed by Sandy, mostly from storm surge and battering waves. In addition, 41 of the 72 direct deaths associated with Sandy in the U.S. were related to storm surge flooding.

Around 8.5 million customers in the Northeast lost power due to the winds from Sandy. Some were without power for weeks.

(MORE: A Meteorological Memoir | Infographic: Sandy's Facts and Impacts)

3. Hurricane Maria (2017): $90 Billion

After pummeling the island of Dominica, then the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix, Hurricane Maria became the strongest hurricane to landfall in Puerto Rico since 1928 when it roared into the U.S. territory on Sept. 20 as a high-end Category 4 hurricane.

A New York Times investigation in December 2017 estimated the death toll in Puerto Rico was likely over 1,000.

Power was knocked out to over 90 percent of the island immediately following Maria, and, as of late January 2018, just under 70 percent of customers had electricity restored.

Flooding triggered hundreds, if not thousands, of landslides on the mountainous island, wiping out countless trees, roads, bridges and some homes. Even homes that weren't swept down hillsides were isolated by washed-out or tree-blocked roads.

(MORE: Why Maria Was a Catastrophe | Final Report's Dramatic Images | Full Recap)

2. Hurricane Harvey (2017): $125 Billion

Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas, on Aug. 25, making it the first major hurricane (Category 3 or stronger) to make landfall in the U.S. since 2005. Storm surge and powerful wind gusts resulted in widespread destruction near its landfall location.

After landfall, Harvey then stalled over South Texas and then meandered east back into the Gulf of Mexico before making a final landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, on Aug. 30. Harvey remained a named storm 117 hours after landfall, the longest a Texas landfalling hurricane held onto its name after landfall on record.

This exceedingly slow movement is what led to record-shattering rainfall and catastrophic flooding in southeastern Texas.

The top rainfall total was an incredible 60.58 inches in Nederland, Texas, from Aug. 24 to Sept. 1, smashing the all-time U.S. tropical cyclone rainfall record. The areal coverage of the excessive rainfall was also impressive. Locations picking up at least 20 inches of rainfall reached an area larger than the state of West Virginia, while the 40-inch-plus zone covered an area bigger than Delaware.

While Harvey was the deadliest Texas hurricane in 98 years, none of the 68 deaths directly attributed to Harvey were due to storm surge, a first for a U.S. Category 4 landfall, according to National Hurricane Center scientist Eric Blake.

(MORE: Hurricane Harvey Full Recap | 2017's Biggest U.S. Weather Stories | NHC Final Report) 

1. Hurricane Katrina (2005): $160 Billion

In addition to being the most costly hurricane in history, Katrina is also the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.

Katrina first made landfall in south Florida as a Category 1 hurricane near Miami. Strong winds gusting between 85 and 95 mph plus heavy rains caused substantial damage and flooding.

After exiting South Florida, Katrina strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Even though Katrina had weakened to a Category 3 before landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, its large size and previous extreme intensity sent a huge storm surge into the Mississippi, Alabama and southeast Louisiana coasts.

The surge left behind catastrophic destruction along the coast of Mississippi and stressed the levees protecting New Orleans, causing them to fail. This resulted in an inundation of 80 percent of New Orleans with water depths up to 20 feet.

Farther inland, high winds and some flooding affected portions of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Georgia.

(MORE: The Day the Forecast Shifted | Katrina, a Look Back)