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Hurricanes by the Numbers

Millions live in the paths of the biggest storms

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Related Links Hurricanes Deadliest Hurricanes in the United States Most Intense Hurricanes in the United States Costliest Hurricanes of the Century Atlantic Hurricane Names Retired Hurricane Names Hurricane Advisories and Warnings U.S. Hurricanes

In Harm's Way

35.3 million
Estimated July 1, 2007, population most threatened by Atlantic hurricanes: the coastal portion of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas. 12% of the nation’s population lived in these areas.

10.2 million
The 1950 coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas. 7% of the nation’s population resided in these areas.

25.1 million
Number of people added to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas between 1950 and 2007. Florida alone was responsible for the bulk of this increase (almost 15 million).

247%
Percentage growth of the coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas between 1950 and 2007.

180,155
Collective land area, in square miles, of the coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas.

3 of the 20 most populous metro areas in 2007 that were within Atlantic or Gulf coastal areas from North Carolina to Texas. These areas are Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas (sixth); Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla. (seventh), and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. (19th).

Arthur
The name given to the first Atlantic storm of 2008. The next Atlantic/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean storm will be named Bertha.

About 50 to 100
Number of people killed by hurricanes striking the U.S. coastline in an average three-year period.

Florida

17.8 million
Estimated 2007 coastal population of Florida, accounting for half of the coastal population of the states stretching from North Carolina to Texas. Among the Sunshine State’s coastal population, 10.6 million lived along the Atlantic and 7.2 million along the Gulf.

0.8%
Percentage growth of Florida’s coastal population between 2006 and 2007.

354 people per square mile
The 2007 population density of Florida’s coastal areas. The Sunshine State leads the entire area between North Carolina and Texas in coastal population density.

Hurricanes Past

38,000
Population of Galveston, Texas, at the time of the city's devastating hurricane of 1900. At that time, Galveston, Dallas and Houston had similar populations.

57,526
Galveston's population in 2006—nowhere near that of Dallas (1,232,940) and Houston (2,144,491).

342,973
Population of Charleston County, S.C., in 2007. The county was devastated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, when its population was 295,000, but has rebounded nicely since.

452,170
Estimated population of New Orleans on July 1, 2005—about two months before Hurricane Katrina struck.

239,124
Estimated population of New Orleans on July 1, 2007 — less than one year after Hurricane Katrina struck. The city’s population increased 13.8 percent from a year earlier when it was 210,198.

1950
The year the Weather Bureau officially began naming hurricanes.

NOTE: Coastal counties include those with at least 15% of their total land area within the nation’s coastal watershed.

• More on Hurricanes

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.