Hurricane Andrew
Though Andrew was a small tropical cyclone for most of its lifespan, it caused extreme damage, especially in the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. The vast majority of the damage was as a result of extremely high winds, although a few tornadoes spawned by Andrew caused considerable damage in Louisiana. Throughout the areas affected, almost 177,000 people were left homeless. Outside of the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana, effects were widespread, although damage was minimal. Overall, $27.3 billion in losses and 65 fatalities were attributed to Andrew, with some estimates ranging as high as $34 billion. Andrew was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history at the time, but is now seventh following hurricanes Katrina (2005), Ike (2008), Sandy (2012), Harvey (2017), Irma (2017), and Maria (2017).
Hurricane Harvey
The widespread and catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey resulted in one of the costliest natural disasters in United States history. An estimated 300,000 structures and 500,000 vehicles were damaged or destroyed in Texas alone. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated total damage at $125 billion, with a 90% confidence interval of $90–160 billion. The scope of flooding in areas with low National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) participation lends to the large uncertainty in the damage total. This ranks Harvey as the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the country alongside Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, accounting for inflation and cost increases since 2005, the National Hurricane Center considers Harvey the second-costliest. Nationwide, 107 people died in storm-related incidents: 103 in Texas, 2 in Arkansas, 1 in Tennessee, and 1 in Kentucky. Of the deaths in Texas, 68 were from the direct effects of Harvey, the highest such number in the state since 1919.