The Deadliest Natural Disaster to Ever Strike Your State

24/7 Wall St. Insights

8,000 lives were lost in Texas during the 1990 Galveston Hurricane, one of the deadliest natural disasters on record.
Alternately, in Maine, the deadliest natural disaster – an ice storm – claimed the lives of just eight people, thanks in part to Maine’s placement on the map.
Natural disasters in the U.S. differ based on geographical area but can include tornadoes, flash floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires (among others).
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Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) recently began developing a Disaster Relief Hub located in Southern California to address the needs of communities affected by natural disasters, such as wildfires. The extent of wildfires in the U.S. each year continues to grow. The worst modern large-acreage wildfires in California have all happened in the last 10 years, and the effects of climate change will undoubtedly affect prevalence moving forward. Through its Disaster Relief Hub, Amazon hopes to more rapidly provide disaster mitigation equipment, such as shelter supplies, hygiene kits, food, tarps, and first aid to affected areas.

Wildfires are not the only natural disaster commonly seen in the United States. Because of the great geographical diversity across the U.S., each region is susceptible to different disasters. The West Coast is ripe with these wildfires that the northern U.S. almost never sees. Likewise, southern and East Coast states are frequently hit with shattering hurricanes, the likes of which rarely occur elsewhere in the nation. As a whole, America is an annual victim of a large range of natural disasters, including tornadoes, flash floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, mud slides, and avalanches. All of these have the capacity to wreak major havoc on our cities and infrastructure. (Here’s every $5 billion plus weather event since 2020.)

Here, 24/7 Wall St. explores the most terrifying and severe natural disasters in each state. To develop this list, 24/7 Wall St. researched historic government data on weather events across all 50 states. We only reviewed disasters caused by natural forces, such as earthquakes, blizzards, ice storms, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, avalanches, floods, and tornados. In the case of Maryland, we highlighted a natural force (lightning) that led to a plane crash. Government sources analyzed include the United States Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. We also reviewed data from the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office. News reports provided supplemental information.

Though disasters are notable for different reasons, like the immense damage they cause and the costly reconstruction that follows, we focused on events that caused the most deaths. Some states are lucky enough to have never lost hundreds or thousands of residents to a disaster. Still, the weather event with the highest fatalities was chosen as the state’s worst natural disaster.

This post was updated on September 20, 2025 to clarify the nature of Amazon’s disaster relief hub, wildfires in California vs. elsewhere, and deaths caused by Alaska’s 1964 earthquake.

Why We Needed to Cover This

Thanks to climate change and increasing global temperatures, natural disasters are on the rise. In reference to climate change-related disasters, Rick Spinrad of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Atmosphere says, “Buckle up. More extreme events are expected.” Practical Americans who wish to take precautionary measures must remain alert to impending disasters.

Here is the worst natural disaster in each state:

1. Alabama

Natural disaster: Deep South Tornado Outbreak
Date: March 21, 1932
Fatalities: 286
Other events considered: Killer tornadoes of 1920, 1980 Heat Wave

2. Alaska

Natural disaster: Good Friday Earthquake
Date: March 27, 1964
Fatalities: 131
Other events considered: Chilkoot Trail “Palm Sunday” Avalanche of 1898, 1967 Fairbanks Flood

3. Arizona

Natural disaster: Tropical Storm Norma
Date: Sept. 4-5, 1970
Fatalities: 23
Other events considered: Tropical Storm Norma (1970), Yarnell Hill Fire (2013)

4. Arkansas

Natural disaster: Mississippi River Flood
Date: May-August 1927
Fatalities: 127
Other events considered: Albert Pike Flash Floods (2010), Flood of 1978

5. California

Natural disaster: San Francisco Earthquake
Date: April 18, 1906
Fatalities: 3,000
Other events considered: Crescenta Valley Flood (1933-34), Los Angeles Flood (1938)