Hurricane Irma: What are America’s deadliest hurricanes? Could Irma be WORSE?
HURRICANE Irma is currently one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean – but what are America’s deadliest hurricanes?
Hurricane Irma barrels towards Caribbean islands
Irma is currently creating winds with a top speed of 185mph, leading to fears it could cause devastation in the US and West Indies as it careens through the region.
No hurricane has ever been as powerful as Irma at its current level of pressure, with meteorologists warning it could get stronger as it approaches the Florida coast.
It follows in the footsteps of Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas just two weeks ago and caused 60 deaths and huge amounts of damage to the area.
But what are the deadliest hurricanes to have reached the mainland US?
Katrina made a direct hit on New Orleans as a Category 3 storm, causing £83billion in damage
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
The hurricane made a direct hit on New Orleans as a Category 3 storm, wreaking chaos and causing flood walls to fail across the region.
Most of New Orleans was flooded, and some people who were stranded in their homes climbed to the roofs to await rescue.
About 1,200 people died in the natural disaster, which caused an estimated £83billion ($108billion) in damage – the costliest hurricane ever to strike the United States.
Hurricane Audrey, 1957
This Category 4 hurricane struck near the Texas-Louisiana border, unleashing storm surges that reached up to 25miles (40km) inland in the low-lying areas and killing more than 400 people.
The Great New England Hurricane, 1938
The Category 3 storm made landfall in Long Island, New York and Connecticut in the North of the country.
It caused roughly 600 deaths with off-shore fatalities included.
Hurricane Harvey has claimed at least 60 lives and caused mass flooding
Florida Keys Labor Day Hurricane, 1935
Just two years before the Great New England Hurricane, this storm ripped through the Florida Keys as a Category 5 storm.
It then moved north off the western coast of Florida before turning inland and reaching land as a Category 2.
More than 400 people died in the natural disaster.
Okeechobee Hurricane, 1928
The Category 4 storm reached land in Palm Beach County, Florida, causing extreme flooding on the south shore of Lake Okeechobeee where the hurricane gets its name.
An estimated 2,500 people died, but the figure may have been as high as 3,000, according to the National Weather Service.
No hurricane has ever been as powerful as Irma at its current level of pressure
Galveston Hurricane, 1900
In the deadliest hurricane in US history, the Category 4 storm, which made landfall in Galveston, Texas, killed at least 8,000 people.
The storm also flattened thousands of buildings in the coastal city of Galveston, leaving many people homeless.
The city was flooded by a devastating storm surge more than 15feet (4.6 metres) tall.