what was the most destructive hurricane in history?
606059
I believe it was Andrew until  Katrina came along.  There were some bad ones in the 20's that killed a bunch of people, but there wasn't that many homes destroyed because they weren't here.\n\nYou might want to rephrase the question in terms of property damage or lives lost.
21389
There is a universal list in place that contains 21 names that are reused every six to seven years. Hurricanes that cause a lot of devastation are usually retired and replaced with another name from the corresponding location in the alphabet.\n\nThe link below provides a complete list of hurricane names for the entire world, and you can read more about how the hurricanes got their names. It's a pretty interesting read.
635453
Well TweetyBird I have only experienced one hurricane and a handful of typhoons, as for the effects:\nThey uproot trees.\nBring down power cables and telephone lines.\nTear off roofs, and knock down fences.\nThey cause tidal waves (not tsunamis) that batter the coastline.\nShips are sunk, lighter buildings destroyed.\nThey cause floods.\nAfter a storm everything looks so clean all rubbish having been borne away by the wind.
592391
I was at home in New Orleans. I live on the second floor of my building, so I didn't get flooded, but the whole neighborhood did.  I never realized just how loud a hurricane could be. Katrina is the fourth one I've stayed for, and it was the noisiest.  The worst moment was when the siding ripped off and slammed against the windows, then the laundry room roof blew off.
997243
Hello..I just wanted to answer your question and most likely amaze you just a little...lol...In my 37 years of life I have been in 6 hurricanes , 5 tornado's(seen more than 20) 1 house fire, Three major floods and I have seen hail the size of baseballs...I hope this answers your question...And YES its all true....Have a great day...GeneO
232665
The name Liza has been given to 4 Eastern Pacific tropical cyclones, 2 of which were hurricanes.  The other two were Tropical Storm Liza of 1961 and also 1972.  \n\nThe first Hurricane Liza occurred in 1968, and the second occurred in 1976.  The 1976 Liza was a deadly Category 4 hurricane which killed over 600 people in northern Mexico, most of whom perished in mudslides after a dike burst.  Another 350 people were missing.  This makes Liza 1976 the third most deadly eastern Pacific hurricane.  \n\nLiza 1976 was also one of 7 Pacific hurricanes to make landfall as a Category 4 or stronger, and also one of the strongest landfalling Pacific hurricanes on record.\n\nLiza 1976 began as a tropical depression on September 25 and began heading west.  Shortly, "she" turned north and strengthened into a tropical storm.  Liza moved very slowly to the north for the next couple of days and slowly gathered strength.  "She" became a hurricane on September 28.  Then, Liza picked up speed and strength, growing into a major hurricane on September 29 and reaching Category 4 later that day.  At one point, Liza "wobbled" slightly to the west and glanced the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.  Liza then resumed "her" northerly progression and entered the Gulf of California.  Liza 1976 made landfall near Guaymas (sp.?) and inflicted heavy damage in the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa before dissipating on October 2 in the moungains of Northern Mexico.\n\nLiza 1976's top sustained winds reached 140 mph and the minimum central pressure was 948 millibars.
467979
1.  9/11 obviously is top of the list.\n2.  Wars in Afgan. and Iraq\n3.  Natural disasters - Hurricanes and Tsunami\n4.  Passing of Pope John Paul\n5.  Y2K.....haha.  Remember that non-event?
872937
Erm...well, Instead of saying immediate effects, you could say Primary effects. Sounds more professional :P\nHurricanes tear buildings apart blah blah.\n\nThey can be predicted with signs of violent winds, killer waves, torrential rains and flash flooding.\nIt's usually predicted for a hurricane 'season'\nThe specialists could look at the weather from the satelites in space with the amount of movement in the wind, and the weather. [I think]\n\nI know the hurricanes are born over water and when it reaches land, it starts to loose power.
599792
Tornado Alley might have the MOST frequency of tornadoes, but the worst type of tornadoes , I believe,are "waterspouts": tornadoes that form on oceans (yikes! where to hide from that one?)  They occur fairly around warm waters (including Florida).\n\nCheck these chilling pictures out\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Trombe.jpg\nhttp://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nws/images/big/wea00312.jpg
549304
The worst blizzards occur in the world's greatest mountain ranges and usually at high altitude.  I don't think there'll be any accurate record of the worst one ever but there's several that have lasted for many days or even weeks with wind speeds often in excess of double that of a hurricane.
1147777
The strongest recorded earthquake was the chilean earthquake in '64 I think.  It registered 9.6 on the Richter.  The Good Friday quake in alaska registered 9.4, though was still horribly destructive.
308545
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
818535
Try the National Hurricane Center - http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ - there's tons of good information on this site.
114827
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 2005, and lasted until November 30, 2005. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin, although effectively the season persisted into January of 2006 due to continued storm activity. Forecasters originally called for a modestly above-average hurricane season; however, 2005 unexpectedly became the most active season on record, shattering records on repeated occasions. A record twenty-seven tropical storms formed, of which a record fifteen became hurricanes. Of these, seven strengthened into major hurricanes, a record-tying five became Category 4 hurricanes and a record three reached Category 5 strength, the highest categorization for hurricanes. Among these Category 5 storms was Hurricane Wilma, the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.\n\nThis seems to me accurate.  I had origionall thought that the hurricane season started in September.  Last year it started on June 1.
112967
Hurricanes have hit New York City. They have usually lost a lot of their power due to land and cooler water temperatures by the time they get up there though. However, if a full force hurricane ever did directly hit New York, I'm sure it would be quite a disaster - although probably more a monetary than a human disaster (like New Orleans).
283797
According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, central Kansas receives the most thunderstorm activity.  Unfortunately, those storms come with tornadoes.  Florida gets the most lightning, sometimes with thunderstorms but that also means hurricanes.
343128
The Galveston Storm of 1900 was the most deadly hurricane to hit the U.S.  Over 8,000 people died when the cat 4 hurricane hit the Galveston coast September 1900.  They had no warning and the whole island was wiped out.  This was not the "strongest" hurricane in history but with over 8,000 dead it was the most tragic.