List of United States disasters by death toll

List of United States disasters by death toll is a list of notable disasters which occurred in the United States or involved U.S. citizens, in a definable incident.

Due to inflation, the monetary damage estimates are not comparable. Unless otherwise noted, the year given is the year in which the currency's valuation was calculated.

This list is not comprehensive in general, and epidemics are not included.

Year	Type	Fatalities	Damage (US$)	Article	Location	Comments	Sources
1918	Pandemic	At least 675,000		1918 flu pandemic	Global	American deaths only.
1900	Tropical cyclone	6,000-12,000		Galveston Hurricane of 1900	Texas	Fatalities estimated - remains deadliest natural disaster in North American history.
1906	Earthquake and Fire (urban conflagration)	3,000-6,000		1906 San Francisco Earthquake	California	Conflagration followed quake; fatalities estimated
1838	Genocide	4,000		Trail of Tears	Tennesseee, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri	Estimated 4,000 Cherokee Native American deaths.
1928	Tropical cyclone	3,000	$800,000,000 (2005)	1928 Okeechobee Hurricane	Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Florida	4,078+ believed dead total. About 2,500 died in Florida and 500 in the U.S. possession of Puerto Rico
2001	Terrorism	2,973	$1,000,000,000 (2001)	September 11 attacks	New York City, Arlington, VA, Pennsylvania, U.S. airspace	2,973 victims and 19 hijackers.
1941	Military strike	2,458		Attack on Pearl Harbor	Pearl Harbor, Hawaii	2,403 U.S. victims and 55 Japanese victims.
1889	Accident - Dam burst	2,209		Johnstown Flood	Pennsylvania	Much rain, deforestation; dam failed
1893	Tropical cyclone	2,000		1893 Cheniere Caminada Hurricane	Louisiana	Fatalities estimated
2005	Tropical cyclone	1,836	$84,000,000,000 (2006)	Hurricane Katrina	Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama
1865	Accident - Shipwreck	1,700		Sultana	Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee	Steamboat sank due to boiler explosion; fatalities estimated
1980	Heat wave	1,700		1980 United States heat wave	Central and southern states	Official death toll, may have been higher
1912	Accident - Shipwreck	1,490-1,522		RMS Titanic	Atlantic Ocean	Bound for New York City
1871	Fire (rural)	1,200-2,500		Peshtigo Fire	Peshtigo, Wisconsin	Fatalities estimated; most deaths in single fire in U.S. history
1904	Accident - Shipwreck	1,021		PS General Slocum	East River near New York City	Steamship sank due to fire on board
1893	Tropical cyclone	1,000-2,000		1893 Sea Islands Hurricane	Georgia, South Carolina	Fatalities estimated
1915	Accident - Shipwreck	845		S.S. Eastland	Chicago, Illinois
1995	Heat wave	739		Chicago Heat Wave of 1995	Chicago, Illinois
1925	Tornado	695-727	$1,650,000,000 (2005)	Tri-State Tornado	Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (Kentucky, Tennessee)	Lower number for single 3-state tornado; higher for 5-state outbreak
1903	Fire (building)	602		Iroquois Theatre Fire	Chicago, Illinois
1919	Tropical cyclone	600		1919 Florida Keys Hurricane	Florida, Texas
1928	Accident - Dam failure	600		St. Francis Dam	Santa Clarita, California (Greater Los Angeles area)
1938	Tropical cyclone	600		Great New England Hurricane
1947	Accident - Explosion	581		Texas City Disaster	Texas City, Texas	Ammonium nitrate onboard ship
1942	Fire (building)	492		Cocoanut Grove fire	Boston, Massachusetts	Nightclub
1918	Fire (rural)	453	$7,300,000	1918 Cloquet Fire	Minnesota
1913	Flood	428		1913 (Ohio) Statewide Flood	Southwest, Central, and Eastern Ohio
1935	Tropical cyclone	423		Labor Day Hurricane of 1935	Florida
1860	Accident - Shipwreck	400		PS Lady Elgin	Chicago, Illinois
1888	Blizzard	400		Great Blizzard of 1888	Northeast	Fatalities estimated
1857	Shipwreck	400		SS Central America, 1857	Off the coast of Georgia	Fatalities estimated
1894	Fire (rural)	400		Great Hinckley Fire	Hinckley, Minnesota and vicinity
1937	Flood	385	$5,000,000,000	Ohio River flood of 1937	Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois
1907	Accident - Coal mine	362		Monongah Mining disaster	Monongah, West Virginia
1913	Flood	361		Great Dayton Flood	Dayton, Ohio	Flood was created by a series of three winter storms that hit the region in March, 1913
1950	Blizzard	353	$66,700,000 (1950)	Great Appalachian Storm of November 1950	Eastern US States
2011	Tornado	346	~$11,000,000,000 (2011)	April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak	Midwestern United States, Southern United States, Eastern United States, Southern Ontario	336 tornadoes, with arguably the deadliest in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama
1930	Fire (building)	322		Ohio Penitentiary	Columbus, OH
1944	Accident - Explosion	320		Port Chicago disaster	Port Chicago, California (San Francisco Bay Area)	WWII ammunition ignited
1974	Tornado	315	$3,500,000,000 (2005)	Super Outbreak	Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and New York	148 tornadoes
1993	Cyclonic Blizzard	310	$6,650,000,000 (2008)	1993 Storm of the Century	Ontario, Quebec, Eastern United States, Cuba
1865	Accident - Explosion	300		Mobile magazine explosion	Mobile, Alabama	Civil War ammunition
1937	Accident - Explosion	296-319	$13,000,000 (2003)	New London School explosion	New London, Texas	Gas leak
1881	Fire (rural)	282	$2,347,000	Thumb Fire	Michigan
1898	Explosion	274		USS Maine	Havana, Cuba	A major event that precipitated the Spanish–American War. Exact cause remains unknown.
1979	Accident - Aircraft	273		American Airlines Flight 191	Chicago, Illinois	Deadliest single-aircraft accident in US history
1965	Tornado	271		Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak	Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana	78 tornadoes
1999	Heat wave	271			Midwest and Northeast
2001	Accident - Aircraft	265		American Airlines Flight 587	Queens, New York
1913	Accident - Coal mine	263			Dawson, New Mexico
1909	Accident - Coal mine	259		Cherry Mine Disaster	Cherry, Illinois
1937	Accident - Coal mine	257			Grundy, Virginia
1969	Tropical cyclone	256		Hurricane Camille	Mississippi, Alabama and Virginia
1896	Tornado	255-400	$2,900,000,000 (1997)	St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado	Missouri
1913	Blizzard	250	$5,000,000 (1913)	Great Lakes Storm of 1913	Great Lakes area	Fatalities estimated
1927	Flood	246	$400,000,000	Great Mississippi Flood of 1927	Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee
1972	Flood	238	$160,000,000 (1972) $664,000,000 (2002)	1972 Rapid City Flood	Rapid City, South Dakota	Average rainfall over area of 60 mi² measured at 10-15 inches (380 mm), over 6 hours in middle of night June 9–10, 1972.
1996	Accident - Aircraft	230		TWA Flight 800	Atlantic Ocean near Long Island, New York
1999	Accident - Aircraft	217		EgyptAir Flight 990	Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket, Massachusetts
1940	Fire (building)	209		Rhythm Club Fire	Natchez, MS
1871	Fire (urban conflagration)	200-300		Great Chicago fire	Chicago, Illinois	Fatalities estimated; 125 bodies recovered
1900	Accident - Coal mine	200		Scofield mine disaster	Scofield, Utah
1898	Accident - Shipwreck	192		The Portland	Gloucester, Massachusetts
1908	Fire (building)	174		Collinwood school fire	Cleveland, OH
1908	Fire (building)	171		Rhoads Opera House	Boyertown, PA	The incident spurred the Pennsylvania legislature into passing new legislative standards for doors, landings, lighting, curtains, fire extinguishers, aisles, marked exits, and doors. All doors were required to open outward and remain unlocked. Pennsylvania governor Edwin Stuart signed Pennsylvania’s first fire law on May 3, 1909. (Sources conflict on number of fatalities: 170 or 171. The plaque that was placed in the old location of the Opera House to commemorate the event states 171 deaths - see image.)
1995	Terrorism	168		Oklahoma City bombing	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1944	Fire (building)	168		Hartford circus fire	Hartford, CT
1977	Fire (building)	165		Beverly Hills Supper Club fire	Southgate, Kentucky near Cincinnati, OH
1946	Tsunami and Earthquake	165		Aleutian Island earthquake	Alaska and Hawaii
2011	Tornado	162	$2,800,000,000 - (2011)	2011 Joplin tornado	Joplin, MO	Part of the May 21–26, 2011 tornado outbreak sequence
1987	Accident - Aircraft	156		Northwest Airlines Flight 255	Detroit, MI
1911	Fire (building)	146		Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire	New York City
1976	Flood	145		Big Thompson Canyon Flood of 1976	Colorado
1978	Accident - Aircraft	144		PSA Flight 182	San Diego, CA
1985	Accident - Aircraft	135		Delta Air Lines Flight 191	Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas
1960	Accident - Aircraft	134		1960 New York air disaster	New York City
1994	Accident - Aircraft	132		US Air Flight 427	Pittsburgh, PA
1944	Accident - Explosion	130	$7,000,000- $15,000,000	Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion	Cleveland, Ohio
1956	Accident - Aircraft	128		1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision	Grand Canyon, AZ	Parts of wreckage still visible
1972	Accident - Dam burst	125		Buffalo Creek Flood	Logan County, West Virginia
2004	Tropical cyclone	124	$19,000,000,000 (2005)	Hurricane Ivan	Texas, Florida, East Coast
1929	Fire (building)	123		Cleveland Clinic fire of 1929	Cleveland, OH
2005	Tropical cyclone	120	$10,000,000,000 (2005)	Hurricane Rita	Louisiana
1946	Fire (building)	119		Winecoff Hotel	Atlanta, GA
1938	Flood	115		Los Angeles Flood of 1938	Los Angeles, California
1964	Tsunami and Earthquake	115	$1,800,000,000 (2006)	Good Friday Earthquake	Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, California, British Columbia
1837	Accident - Shipwreck	115		Wreck of the Mexico	Long Beach, New York	Eight people rescued from shore. One hundred fifteen crew and passengers (mostly Irish immigrants, and many of them women and children) froze to death on the deck of the ship just 200 yards from shore. See book: "Water and Ice: The Tragic Wrecks of the Bristol and the Mexico on the South Shore of Long Island" @ www.Lynhistory.com The wreck of the Mexico is the subject of Walt Whitman's poem, "Sleepers" in Leaves of Grass.
1953	Tornado	114			Waco, TX
1981	Accident - collapse	114		Hyatt Regency walkway collapse	Kansas City, Missouri
1975	Accident - Aircraft	113		Eastern Air Lines Flight 66	New York City, NY
2008	Tropical cyclone	112	$19,600,000,000 (2008)	Hurricane Ike	Texas, Louisiana
1947	Accident - Coal mine	111		Centralia mine disaster	Centralia, Illinois
1971	Accident - Aircraft	111		Alaska Airlines Flight 1866	Juneau, Alaska
1989	Accident - Aircraft	111		United Airlines Flight 232	Sioux City, Iowa
1996	Accident - Aircraft	110		ValuJet Flight 592	Florida Everglades
1869	Accident - Coal mine	108		Avondale Mine Disaster	Plymouth, Pennsylvania
1918	Accident - Railroad	101		Great train wreck of 1918	Nashville, Tennessee
1972	Accident - Aircraft	101		Eastern Air Lines Flight 401	Miami, FL
1978	Blizzard	100	$1,075,000,000 (2010)	Northeastern United States Blizzard of 1978	Northeast	Fatalities Estimated
2003	Fire (building)	100		The Station nightclub fire	West Warwick, Rhode Island	4th-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history, killing 100 people and injuring more than 200.
1922	Roof collapse (snow)	98		Knickerbocker Theatre	Washington, D.C.
1904	Accident - Railroad	97		Eden train wreck	Pueblo, CO
1910	Avalanche	96		Wellington avalanche	Wellington, Washington
1962	Accident - Aircraft	95		American Airlines Flight 1	New York City, NY
1958	Fire (building)	95		Our Lady of the Angels School Fire	Chicago, IL
1918	Accident - Railroad	93		Malbone Street Wreck	Brooklyn, New York
1876	Accident - Railroad	92		Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster	Ashtabula, Ohio
1974	Accident - Aircraft	92		TWA Flight 514	Berryville, Virginia
1973	Accident - Aircraft	89		Delta Air Lines Flight 723	Boston, MA
2000	Accident - Aircraft	88		Alaska Airlines Flight 261	Pacific Ocean near Anacapa Island, California
1990	Fire (building)	87		Happy Land Fire	New York City
1910	Fire (rural)	86		Great Fire of 1910	Washington, Idaho, Montana
1918	Accident - Railroad	86		Hammond Circus Train Wreck	Hammond, Indiana
1993	Raid - Fire	86		Waco Siege	Branch Davidian Complex, Waco, TX	6 Davidians and 4 police killed in initial raid, 76 Davidians died in assault weeks later when building was set on fire.
1968	Accident - Aircraft	85		United Airlines Flight 629	Dawson, TX
1951	Accident - Railroad	85		Woodbridge train wreck	Woodbridge, New Jersey
1980	Fire (building)	84		MGM Grand Hotel fire	Las Vegas, NV
1965	Accident - Aircraft	84		Eastern Air Lines Flight 663	New York City, NY
1969	Accident - Aircraft	83		Airplane collision involving an Allegheny Airlines DC-9	Shelby County, Indiana	A Piper Cherokee 140, piloted by a student who was a week away from getting his private pilot's license, collided with an Allegheny Airlines DC-9. The flight originated in Boston and had stopped in Baltimore and Cincinnati.
1967	Accident - Aircraft	82		Piedmont Airlines Flight 22	Hendersonville, NC
1986	Accident - Aircraft	82		Aeromexico Flight 498	Cerritos, CA
1887	Accident - Railroad	81-85		Great Chatsworth Train Wreck	Chatsworth, Illinois
1963	Accident - Aircraft	81		Pan Am Flight 214	Elkton, Maryland	Lightning strike
1943	Accident - Railroad	79		Frankford Junction train wreck	Philadelphia, PA
1982	Accident - Aircraft	78		Air Florida Flight 90	Washington, D.C.
1968	Accident - Coal mine	78		Farmington Mine Disaster	Farmington, West Virginia
1950	Accident - Railroad	78		Kew Gardens train crash	Kew Gardens, New York
1970	Accident - Aircraft	75		Southern Airways Charter - Marshall University football team	Ceredo, WV	Deadliest sports tragedy in US history
1961	Accident - Aircraft	74		Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8	Richmond, VA
1963	Explosion - Gas Leak	74		Pepsi Coliseum	Indianapolis, IN
1961	Accident - Aircraft	73		TWA Flight 529	Chicago, IL
1957	Fire (building)	72		Warrenton Nursing Home Fire	Warrenton, MO
1974	Accident - Aircraft	72		Eastern Air Lines Flight 212	Charlotte, NC
1943	Accident - Railroad	72		Rennert railroad accident	Rennert, NC
1985	Accident - Aircraft	70		Galaxy Airlines Flight 203	Reno, NV
1936	Flood	69	$3,000,000,000 (2006)	Pittsburgh Flood 1936	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area
1989	Earthquake	69	$6,000,000,000 (1989)	Loma Prieta Earthquake	San Francisco Bay Area, California
1888	Accident - Railroad	66		Mud Run Disaster	Eastern Pennsylvania
1955	Accident - Aircraft	66		United Airlines Flight 409	Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming
1971	Earthquake	65	$500,000,000	Sylmar earthquake	Greater Los Angeles, California area
1959	Accident - Aircraft	65		American Airlines Flight 320	New York City, NY
1903	Accident - Railroad	64		Connellsville train wreck	Connellsville, PA
1856	Accident - Railroad	59-67		The Great Train Wreck of 1856	Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
1960	Tsunami	61	$500,000 (2005)	Great Chilean Earthquake	Hawaii, Alaska	2,290 to 6,600 killed and $3,500,000,000 (2005) in damage worldwide. 61 killed in Hilo, Hawaii. $500,000 in U.S. property damage
1960	Accident - Aircraft	63		Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710	Tell City, Indiana	Wing failure resulting from freak vibrations in clear weather turbulence was the probable cause.
1963	Fire (building)	63		Golden Age Nursing Home fire	Fitchville, OH
1960	Accident - Aircraft	62		Eastern Air Lines Flight 375	Boston, MA
1864	Accident - Railroad	60+		Shohola train wreck	Shohola, Pennsylvania
2008	Tornado	59		2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak	Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, and Illinois
1965	Accident - Aircraft	58		American Airlines Flight 383	Cincinnati, OH
1980	Volcano	57		1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens	Washington State
1994	Earthquake	57	$23,000,000,000	Northridge Earthquake	Greater Los Angeles area
1904	Accident - Railroad	56		New Market train wreck	New Market, Tennessee
1906	Accident - Railroad	53		1906 Atlantic City train wreck	Atlantic City, New Jersey
1906	Accident - Railroad	53		1906 Washington DC train wreck	Washington, DC
1910	Accident Railroad	52		Green Mountain train wreck	Green Mountain, Iowa
1947	Accident - Aircraft	52		United Airlines Flight 608	Bryce Canyon, Utah
1956	Accident - Shipwreck	51		SS Andrea Doria, MS Stockholm	Off the coast of Nantucket
1978	Accident - Construction	51		Willow Island disaster	Willow Island, West Virginia	Scaffolding fell 166' with insufficiently cured concrete
1925	Accident - Railroad	50		Rockport train wreck	Hackettstown, New Jersey
1896	Accident - Railroad	50		1896 Atlantic City rail crash	New Jersey
1993	Flood	50	$15,000,000,000	Great Flood of 1993	Midwest
2009	Accident - Aircraft	50		Colgan Air Flight 3407	Clarence Center, New York
1989	Tropical cyclone	49	$7,000,000,000 (1989)	Hurricane Hugo	Caribbean and Eastern North America.	Damage figure for U.S. only. At least 111 total deaths, with 37 in the continental U.S. and 12 in the U.S. possession of Puerto Rico.
2004	Tropical cyclone	49	$9,000,000,000	Hurricane Frances	Florida
2006	Accident - Aircraft	49		Comair Flight 5191	Lexington, Kentucky
1917	Accident - Railroad	49		Shepherdsville train wreck	Sheperdsville, Kentucky
1867	Accident - Railroad	49		Angola Horror	Angola, New York
1999	Tornado	48	$1,500,000,000 (2005)	1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak	Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee	66 tornadoes
1853	Accident - Railroad	48		Norwalk rail accident	Norwalk, Connecticut
1958	Accident - Railroad	48		Newark Bay, New Jersey rail accident	New Jersey
1944	Accident - Railroad	48		Bagley train wreck	west of Ogden, Utah
1938	Accident - Railroad	47		Custer Creek train wreck	Saugus, Montana
1944	Accident - Railroad	47		Stockton train wreck	Stockton, Georgia
1993	Accident - Railroad	47		Big Bayou Canot train disaster	Alabama	Deadliest train crash in Amtrak history.
1967	Accident - Bridge collapse	46		Silver Bridge - over the Ohio River	Point Pleasant, WV
2011	Tropical cyclone	46	$10,100,000,000 (2011)	Hurricane Irene	Caribbean, East Coast of the United States, Eastern Canada	At least 46 fatalities in U.S. with 10 additional fatalities elsewhere.
1972	Accident - Railroad	45		Chicago commuter rail crash	Chicago, Illinois
1927	Terrorism	45		Bath School Disaster	Michigan
1955	Accident - Aircraft	44		United Airlines Flight 629	Longmont, CO
1940	Accident - Railroad	43		Doodlebug Disaster	Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
2011	Tornado	43		April 14–16, 2011 tornado outbreak	Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania	162 tornadoes
1989	Accident - Bridge collapse	42		Cypress Street viaduct	Oakland, California
2001	Tropical cyclone	41	$5,500,000,000	Tropical Storm Allison	Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania
1859	Bridge washout	41		Springbrook Bridge washout	South Bend, Indiana
1977	Accident - Dam failure	39		Kelly Barnes Dam	Toccoa, GA
1912	Accident - Railroad	39		Corning train wreck	Corning, New York
1969	Accident - Aircraft	38		United Airlines Flight 266	Santa Monica Bay, California
1937	Accident - Aircraft	36		Hindenburg disaster	Manchester, New Jersey	Hydrogen-filled zeppelin
1969	Accident - Aircraft	35		Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708	Lone Pine, California
1980	Ship collision	35		Sunshine Skyway Bridge	St. Petersburg, Florida
1967	Accident - Aircraft	34		Mohawk Airlines Flight 40	Blossburg, Pennsylvania
2007	Mass murder	33		Virginia Tech massacre	Blacksburg, Virginia
1973	Fire (building)	32		Upstairs Lounge	New Orleans, Louisiana
2009	Tsunami	31		2009 Samoa earthquake	American Samoa and nearby islands	189 total deaths, with 31 in American Samoa.
1855	Bridge - Accident	31		Gasconade Bridge	Gasconade, Missouri
1923	Accident - Railroad	30		Glenrock train wreck
1998	Blizzard	30		North American ice storm of 1998	Canada and Northeast
1956	Accident - Railroad	30		Redondo Junction train wreck	Los Angeles
1971	Accident - Explosion	29		Thiokol-Woodbine Explosion	Woodbine, Georgia
1975	Shipwreck	29		Wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald	Lake Superior
1977	Accident - Aircraft	29		University of Evansville basketball team charter crash	Evansville, Indiana	The University of Evansville basketball team was traveling to Middle Tennessee State University when the plane crashed 90 seconds after takeoff from Dress Regional Airport.
1990	Tornado	29	$160,000,000	1990 Plainfield tornado	Plainfield, Illinois Crest Hill, Illinois
1871	Accident - Railroad	29		Great Revere Train Wreck of 1871	Revere, Massachusetts
2010	Accident - Explosion	29		Upper Big Branch Mine disaster	Montcoal, West Virginia
1951	Flood	28	$7,000,000,000 (2005)	Great Flood of 1951	Kansas and Missouri
1988	Accident - Automobile	27		Carrollton bus disaster	Carrollton, Kentucky
1970	Tornado	26	$1,411,900,000 (2008)	Lubbock Tornado	Lubbock, Texas	F5 tornado killed 26 and wounded approximately 500
1958	Accident - school bus	26			Prestonsburg, Kentucky
2008	Accident - Railroad	26		2008 Chatsworth train collision	Chatsworth, California
1991	Fire (building)	25		Hamlet chicken processing plant fire	Hamlet, North Carolina	Workers trapped behind locked doors
1991	Fire (rural)	25	$1,500,000,000	1991 Oakland firestorm	Oakland, California and vicinity
2005	Tornado	25	$92,000,000	Evansville Tornado of November 2005	Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio	7 tornadoes
1887	Bridge Railroad	24		Forest Hills disaster	Boston, Massachusetts
2005	Accident - bus	24			Wilmer, Texas	carrying elderly, fleeing hurricane
1919	Accident - Railroad	23		Onawa train wreck	Onawa, Maine
1977	Blizzard	23	$56,250,000 (1977)	Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977	New York and Ontario (esp. Buffalo, New York)
1989	Accident - Explosion	23	$1,415,000,000 (1990)	Phillips Disaster	Pasadena, Texas	314 people injured
1959	Explosion - Fire	23		Meldrim, Georgia trestle disaster	Meldrim, Georgia
1992	Tropical cyclone	23	$25,000,000,000	Hurricane Andrew	Florida and Louisiana
1983	Accident - Aircraft	23		Air Canada Flight 797	Cincinnati, OH
1999	Accident - tour bus	22			New Orleans, Louisiana	plunged over embankment, carrying senior citizens from casino
1980	Accident - tour bus	22			Jasper, Arkansas
1960	Accident - Aircraft	22		Cal Poly football team plane crash	Toledo, OH
1986	Accident - tour bus	21			Walker, California
1915	Fire (building)	21		St. Johns School Fire	Peabody, Massachusetts	Schoolgirls trapped behind exit door; resulted in first city law requiring that exit doors open outward
1919	Accident - Explosion	21	$6,600,000,000 (2005)	Boston molasses disaster	Boston, Massachusetts	Damages are out-of-court settlements only; repairs took 133 man-months
2010	Flood	20		June 2010 Arkansas floods	Albert Pike Recreational Area (near Langley, Arkansas)
1872	Fire (urban conflagration)	20	$73,500,000 (1872)	Great Boston Fire of 1872	Boston, Massachusetts
1897	Accident - Railroad	19		Garrison train crash	Garrison, New York
1944	Accident - Aircraft	19		Long Creek Air Disaster	South Portland, Maine
1903	Accident - Railroad	17		Purdue Wreck	Indianapolis, Indiana
1987	Accident - Railroad	17		1987 Maryland train collision	Chase, Maryland
1926	Tornado	16		La Plata Tornado of 1926	La Plata, Maryland	13 killed in La Plata Elementary School
1861	Accident - Railroad	17 to 20		Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy	St. Joseph, Missouri
1966	Mass murder	15		University of Texas Massacre	Austin, Texas
2011	Accident - tour bus	15		World Wide Tours bus crash	Bronx, New York	en route to Connecticut casino, March 12
1999	Mass murder	15		Columbine High School massacre	Jefferson County, Colorado	1954 School Fire 15 Cleveland Hill Middle School Cheektowaga New York -
1982	Bridge - Accident	14		Cline Avenue Bridge collapse	East Chicago, Indiana
1942	Accident - Railroad	14		Ambassador - Cleveland Express rail collision	Dickerson, Maryland	Worst accident in B&O railroad's history
2007	Fire	14		California wildfires of October 2007	California	Large fires burnt out of control across southern California, fueled by unusually strong Santa Ana Winds; worst around San Diego; caused evacuation of over one million people. Most fires accidental; some suspected arson.
2002	Accident - van	14		Saint John River, Maine	carrying Hispanic migrant workers
1973	Accident	14		Skyline Towers collapse	Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia	74 others injured
2006	Accident - Coal mine	13		Sago Mine disaster	Sago, West Virginia
2001	Accident - Mine disaster	13		Jim Walter Resources Mine Disaster	Brookwood, Alabama
1963	Accident - bus	13			Hole in the Rock Trail, Utah	Bus carrying Boy Scouts overturned climbing steep hill.
2009	Mass murder	13		Fort Hood shooting	Fort Hood, Texas
1905	Accident - Railroad	13		Ninth Avenue derailment	New York, New York
2007	Accident - Bridge Collapse	13	$5,000,000	I-35W Mississippi River bridge Collapse	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Collapsed on August 1 at 6:05 PM during rush hour while resurfacing in progress. An additional 111+ injured.
1959	Accident - Coal mine	12		Knox Mine Disaster	Pittston, Pennsylvania
1999	Accident - Railroad	11		1999 Bourbonnais, Illinois train accident	Bourbonnais, Illinois
2010	Accident - Explosion	11		Deepwater Horizon explosion	Southeast of Louisiana coast	Caused by a blowout on April 20. 17 injuries. Subsequent oil spill regarded as worst environmental disaster in US history.
1976	Accident - Dam failure	11	$400,000,000	Teton Dam	Idaho
2011	Accident - Airshow	11		2011 Reno Air Races crash	Reno, Nevada	At least 70 people injured in the disaster. Third-deadliest airshow disaster in U.S. history.
2005	Accident - Railroad	11		2005 Glendale train crash	Los Angeles, California
1979	Stampede	11		Riverfront Coliseum	Cincinnati, OH	The Who rock concert
1996	Accident - Railroad	11		Amtrak Capitol Limited – MARC commuter rail collision	Silver Spring, Maryland
1977	Accident - Railroad	11		Chicago Loop derailment	Chicago, Illinois
2004	Tropical cyclone	10	$15,000,000,000	Hurricane Charley	Florida
1957	Tornado	10	$25,883,000	1957 Fargo tornado	Fargo, ND
1972	Bridge - Accident	10		Sidney Lanier Bridge collapse	Brunswick, Georgia
1987	Bridge - Accident	10		Schoharie Creek Bridge	Ft. Hunter, New York
1888	Accident - Railroad	9		Wreck at the Fat Nancy	Orange County, Virginia
2005	Accident - Railroad	9		Graniteville, South Carolina train crash	Graniteville, South Carolina
1903	Accident - Railroad	9		Wreck of the Old 97	Danville, Virginia
2007	Fire (Building)	9		Charleston Sofa Super Store Fire	Charleston, SC	A flashover and structural collapse contributed to the deaths of nine Charleston firefighters.
2007	Accident - Coal mine	9		Crandall Canyon Mine Collapse	Huntington, Utah	Original collapse on August 6 at 2:48 AM MDT, 6 miners missing. On August 16 at 6:30 PM MDT, 9 rescue workers caught in second collapse while trying to get to trapped miners. Three rescue workers pronounced dead; other 6 injured.
2009	Accident - Railroad	9		Washington Metro subway train collision	Washington, DC	Approximately 80 injuries; deadliest subway train accident US history
1996	Flood	8	$500,000,000	Willamette Valley Flood of 1996	Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California
1989	Bridge collapse	8		Hatchie River Bridge	north of Memphis, Tennessee
1993	Terrorism	7		1993 World Trade Center bombing	New York City
1922	Accident - Railroad	7		1922 Winslow Junction Train Derailment	Winslow, Arizona
1995	Bridge - Accident	7			Coalinga, California
1901	Fire (urban conflagration)	7		Great Fire of 1901	Jacksonville, Florida
1986	Explosion Space Shuttle	7		Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster	Kennedy Space Center, Florida	The first in-flight deaths in the U.S. Space Program
2003	Explosion Space Shuttle	7		Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster	Texas
2011	Mass murder	6		2011 Tucson Shooting	Arizona	Attempted assassination of US representative Gabrielle Giffords. Among the fatalities is the Chief Judge for the US district court of Arizona John Roll
2011	Accident - Structural collapse	6		Indiana State Fair stage collapse	Indianapolis, Indiana	at least 45 injured
1999	Fire (Building)	6		Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire	Worcester, MA	Six firefighters lost their lives while searching for two homeless victims, they are now commonly referred to as the Worcester 6
1995	Flood	6	$1,360,000,000	May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood	New Orleans, Louisiana area
2010	Accident - Explosion	5		2010 Connecticut power plant explosion	Middletown, Connecticut	12 or more injuries
1891	Accident - Railroad	1		Great East Thompson Train Wreck	Thompson, Connecticut	hundreds injured
1995	Accident - Railroad	1		1995 Palo Verde, Arizona derailment	Palo Verde, Arizona	78 injured
2000	Accident - Explosion	1		Phillips explosion of 2000	Pasadena, Texas	71 injuries
2011	Tsunami	1	>$50,000,000	2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami	California, Oregon, Hawaii	7 people swept out to sea, 1 fatality. Major damage to harbors, especially in Crescent City and Santa Cruz, California with tsunami waves reaching 8.1 feet. Extensive damage also reported in three Hawaiian islands, with tsunami waves up to 12 feet high.
1997	Flood	0	$2,000,000,000	1997 Red River Flood	North Dakota, Minnesota, Southern Manitoba
1998-1999	Landslide	0	$70,000,000	Aldercrest-Banyon Landslide	Washington
1816	Famine (caused by volcano)	Unknown		Year Without a Summer		Volcanic dust from a massive eruption by Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies (present Indonesia) in 1815 led to an abnormally cold summer in 1816 in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Cold weather inhibited crops, and frosts and snowstorms killed what did grow, leading to a localized famine.
1835	Fire (urban conflagration)	Unknown	$20,000,000 (1835)	Great Fire of New York
1888	Cold wave	Unknown		1888 Northwest Cold Wave	Northwest
1914	Fire (urban conflagration)	Unknown	$325,000,000 (2008)	Great Salem Fire of 1914	Salem, Massachusetts
1931–1939	Drought	Unknown	Unknown	Dust Bowl	Great Plains	Compounded by unsustainable agricultural techniques
1929-37	Economic	Unknown	Unknown	The Great Depression	Worldwide	See also List of natural disasters by death toll List of wars and disasters by death toll List of accidents and disasters by death toll List of terrorist incidents in the United States List of epidemics List of Canadian disasters by death toll Category:Disasters in the United States