The Deadliest Hurricanes in U.S. History
NOAA
San Felipe a.k.a. Okeechobee Hurricane, Florida, 1928
2,500 dead
This storm was only the second hurricane to reach Category 5 strength in the Atlantic Basin at the time of its landfall. Residents of the hard-hit Lake Okeechobee region had returned to their homes after hearing rumors that the storm had passed, but soon a surge of water covered hundreds of square miles around the lake; in some places it would reach up to 20 ft. (6 m) deep. Most of the people killed in the disaster were unidentifiable migrant farm workers.
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