How will Hurricane Milton stack up against other major recent storms?

As a ferocious Hurricane Milton makes its way across the Gulf Coast Tampa and St. Petersburg in his sights, thousands are fleeing the area for safer ground, leaving behind debris from the devastation of Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.

Although Milton’s rating has fluctuated between Category 4 and 5 several times, the storm is expected to be as well “an extremely dangerous hurricane” when it makes landfall on Wednesday. The extent of damage will depend on the storm surge, and the number of deaths may depend on how many people heeded warnings to evacuate.

Other major hurricanes to hit the US killed hundreds of people and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Hurricane Helene landed on Florida’s Panhandle on September 26 and made its way through five other states, hitting at least 236 deaths and a unknown number of people still missing. The Category 4 storm brought torrential flooding that tore homes from their foundations and uprooted trees, leaving thousands without power and water for days.

Traps trees have killed manyincluded grandparents in South Carolina and a mother and her two babies in Georgia. First responders were among the dead, including a nurse in Tennessee who tried to rescue a man stranded by rushing water, but his boat overturned. Homeowners trying to rebuild face a daunting task without one flood insurance.

Hurricane Beryl was the first of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, according to the hurricane National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Exceptionally warm ocean temperatures caused the storm to quickly grow to a Category 5 storm in early July. Winds peaked at 170 miles per hour before weakening to a still-destructive Category 4.

When Hurricane Beryl hit Texas, it had been downgraded to a Category 1 storm. Beryl has been blamed for at least 36 dead. The storm is estimated to have caused between $28 billion and $32 billion in damage, according to preliminary estimates from AccuWeather.

Hurricane Idalia slammed into Florida on August 30, 2023, with 125 mph winds that split trees in half, ripped roofs off hotels and turned small cars into boats before barreling into Georgia and South Carolina, where it flooded roads and sent residents running to higher ground.

The Category 4 hurricane was the largest to hit the Big Bend region of Florida in more than 125 years. The storm left 12 dead and dumped 5 to 10 inches of rain in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, causing damage to more than $3.6 billion, the report said. US National Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Ian briefly reaches maximum category 5 status before weakening to a Category 4 storm when it made landfall in September 2022 southwest Florida. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the storm caused more than $112 billion in damage and more than 150 deaths, directly or indirectly, in the US.

The agency reported that Ian was the most expensive hurricane in Florida history and the third most expensive ever in the US as a whole. In addition to Florida, Ian also influenced Georgia, Virginia, the Carolinas and… Cuba before breaking up on October 1, 2022.

Hurricane Ida hit land in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm with winds of 150 mph (241 km per hour) in late August 2021, knocking out power to New Orleans, blowing roofs off buildings and reversing the flow of the Mississippi River as it flowed from the Louisiana coast into one of the country’s most important industrial corridors.

At the time, it was tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the mainland. At least 91 deaths in nine states were attributed to the storm — most from drowning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Damage from the storm were estimated at approximately $36 billion.

Hurricane Zeta left millions without power when it hit southeastern Louisiana on October 29, 2020. It had weakened to a tropical storm after leaving the Yucatan Peninsula, but intensified to a Category 3 storm before making landfall.

The storm caused five direct fatalities and approximately $4.4 billion in damage in the United States, according to the hurricane National Hurricane Center.

When Hurricane Delta struck As they entered Louisiana on October 9, 2020, residents were still cleaning up from Hurricane Laura, which had followed a similar path just six weeks earlier. Delta was a Category 4 storm before making two landfalls — both at Category 2 intensity, the National Hurricane Center.

It first hit the Yucatan Peninsula before making landfall in southwestern Louisiana. Delta cost $2.9 billion in the United States and was linked to six deaths in the US and Mexico, according to a report from the hurricane center.

Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm, roared ashore in southwestern Louisiana on August 27, 2020, with winds of 150 miles per hour and a storm surge as high as 15 feet in some areas. Laura was responsible for 47 direct deaths in the United States and Hispaniola, and caused approximately $19 billion in damage in the US, according to the report. National Hurricane Center.

The deaths included five people killed by fallen trees and one person drowned in a boat. Eight people died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to unsafe operation of generators.