Helene is already one of the deadliest, costliest storms to hit the US: Where it ranks

As of Monday, Hurricane Helene has already claimed more than 100 lives as the powerful Hurricane that swept through the Southeast left devastation and chaos in its wake. 

Helene is considered to be one of the deadliest hurricanes to make landfall in the United States in the modern era. The Carolinas, Florida, Georgia and Tennesee have all reported deaths from the deadly storm.

As communities struggle to get back on their feet after the storm, hundreds are still missing with search and rescue operations underway. Buncombe County in North Carolina alone has reported 35 deaths due to the storms, officials said.

Helene already ranks in the top 10 deadliest storms in United States history. The number of victims could continue to grow as cleanup and rescue operations continue.

Only eight hurricanes have killed more than 100 people since 1950, the last time a storm as deadly as Helene hit the US came in 2017, when Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Houston and was blamed for 103 deaths. 

Here are other comparable storms.

Hurricane Katrina

• Year: 2005
• Location: Three landfalls, one in Keating Beach, Florida and two others near Buras, Louisiana and near the Louisiana-Mississippi border
• Deaths: 1,392
• Damage: $125 billion (2005 dollars)
• What happened: Ranked as the deadliest storm since 1950, Katrina is tied with Hurricane Harvey as the costliest Atlantic hurricane on record, according to the National Hurricane Center. The largest reason for deaths connected to Katrina was the failure of the levees around New Orleans which caused catastrophic flooding in the area.

Hurricane Harvey

• Year: 2017
• Location: San Jose Island, Texas, about 20 miles southeast of Houston
• Deaths: 103
• Damage: $125 billion (2017 dollars)
• What happened: The storm caused catastrophic flooding in the Houston area and was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the mainland United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Some areas such as Nederland, Texas saw 60.58 inches of rain accumulation.

Hurricane Ian

• Year: 2022
• Location: Made landfall in Cayo Costa Island, Florida about 29 miles west of Fort Myers
• Deaths: 156
• Damage: $113 billion (2022 dollars)
• What happened: Classified as a Category 5 hurricane, Ian was the third-costliest hurricane on record, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane was also the costliest storm in the history of Florida. Apart from the extensive damages it caused in Florida, Ian also caused damages in Cuba and the Carolinas.

Hurricane Andrew

• Year: 1992
• Location: Elliot Key, Florida, about nine miles east of Homestead
• Deaths: 65
• Damage: $60 billion (1992 dollars)
• What happened: The Category 5 hurricane is considered one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit Florida. Andrew was the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history until Hurricane Irma passed it 25 years later, according to the National Hurricane Center, Irma caused around $77 billion dollars in damages.

Deadliest hurricanes in the US

The deadliest hurricanes, based on National Hurricane Center information, are listed below by their rank, name, year and number of deaths.

1. Katrina - 2005, 1,392
2. Audrey - 1957, 416
3. Camille - 1969, 256
4. Sandy - 2012, 219
5. Diane - 1955, 184
6. Ian - 2022, 156
7. Agnes - 1972, 122
8. Harvey - 2017, 103
9. Helene (preliminary), 100
10. Hazel - 1954, 95
11. Irma - 2017, 92
12. Ike - 2008, 85
13. Ida - 2021, 87
14. Betsy - 1965, 75
15. Andrew - 1992, 65
16. Rita - 2005, 62
17. Carol - 1954, 60
18. Michael - 2019, 59
19. Ivan - 2001, 57
20. Floyd - 1999, 56
21. Matthew - 2016, 52
22. Florence - 2018, 52
23. Isabel - 2003, 51
24. Donna - 1960, 50

Source: National Hurricane Center reports

Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.