Site Map

Research Divisions

Contributed by Chris Landsea

This table summarizes the occurrence of the last hurricane and major hurricane to directly hit the most populated coastal communities from Brownsville, Texas to Eastport, Maine. In addition, if a hurricane indirectly affected a community after the last direct hit, it is listed in the last column of the table. To obtain histories of hurricane strikes by coastal counties, the reader is referred to the NOAA Coastal Services Center web site. There are many illustrative examples of the uncertainty of when a hurricane might strike a given locality. After nearly 70 years without a direct hit, Pensacola, Florida was hit directly by Hurricane Erin in 1995 and major Hurricane Ivan in 2004 within 10 years. Miami, which expects a major hurricane every nine years, on average, has been struck only once since 1950 (in 1992). Tampa has not experienced a major hurricane for 84 years. Many locations along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts have not experienced a major hurricane during the period 1851-2004 (from Blake et al. 2005).

Last direct or indirect hit by any hurricane or a major hurricane at certain populated coastal communities.
through 2004

State	City	Last Direct Major Hurricane Hit			Last Direct Hurricane Hit			Last Indirect Hurricane Hit
Texas	Brownsville	1980	Cat3	Allen	1980	Cat3	Allen
	Corpus Christi	1970	Cat3	Celia	1971	Cat1	Fern	1980	Cat3	Allen
	Port Aransas	1970	Cat3	Celia	1971	Cat1	Fern	1980	Cat3	Allen
	Matagorda	1961	Cat4	Carla	2003	Cat1	Claudette
	Freeport	1983	Cat3	Alicia	1983	Cat3	Alicia	2003	Cat1	Claudette
	Galveston	1983	Cat3	Alicia	1989	Cat1	Jerry
	Houston	1941	Cat3		2005	Cat3	Rita
	Beaumont	2005	Cat3	Rita	2005	Cat3	Rita	1986	Cat1	Bonnie
Louisiana	Cameron	1957	Cat4	Audrey	1985	Cat1	Danny	2005	Cat3	Rita
	Morgan City	1992	Cat3	Andrew	1992	Cat3	Andrew	2002	Cat1	Lili
	Houma	1974	Cat3	Carmen	1985	Cat1	Juan	1992	Cat3	Andrew
	New Orleans	2005	Cat3	Katrina	2005	Cat3	Katrina	1969	Cat5	Camille
Mississippi	Bay St. Louis	2005	Cat3	Katrina	1985	Cat3	Elena
	Biloxi	1985	Cat3	Elena	2005	Cat2	Katrina
	Pascagoula	1985	Cat3	Elena	2005	Cat1	Katrina
Alabama	Mobile	1985	Cat3	Elena	2005	Cat1	Katrina	2005	Cat1	Dennis
Florida	Pensacola	2004	Cat3	Ivan	2005	Cat3	Dennis	2005	Cat3	Katrina
	Panama City	1995	Cat3	Opal	2005	Cat1	Dennis
	Apalachicola	1985	Cat3	Elena	1998	Cat2	Earl	2005	Cat1	Dennis
	Homosassa	1950	Cat3	Easy	1968	Cat2	Gladys
	St. Petersburg	1921	Cat3		1946	Cat1		1968	Cat2	Gladys
	Tampa	1921	Cat3		1946	Cat1		1968	Cat2	Gladys
	Sarasota	1944	Cat3		1946	Cat1		1966	Cat2	Alma
	Fort Myers	1960	Cat3	Donna	1960	Cat3	Donna	2005	Cat3	Wilma
	Naples	2005	Cat3	Wilma	1964	Cat2	Isbell	1992	Cat3	Andrew
	Key West	1948	Cat3		1999	Cat1	Irene	2005	Cat3	Wilma
	Miami	1992	Cat5	Andrew	1999	Cat1	Irene	2005	Cat1	Wilma
	Fort Lauderdale	1950	Cat3	King	1999	Cat1	Irene	2005	Cat1	Wilma
	W. Palm Beach	1949	Cat3		2005	Cat1	Wilma	2004	Cat3	Jeanne
	Stuart	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2005	Cat1	Wilma
	Fort Pierce	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2005	Cat1	Wilma
	Vero Beach	2004	Cat3	Jeanne	2004	Cat3	Jeanne
	Cocoa	<1900			1995	Cat1	Erin	2004	Cat3	Jeanne
	Daytona Bch	<1880			1960	Cat2	Donna	1979	Cat2	David
	St. Augustine	<1880			1964	Cat2	Dora
	Jacksonville	<1880			1964	Cat2	Dora
	Fernandina Bch	<1880			1928	Cat2		1964	Cat2	Dora
Georgia	Brunswick	1898	Cat4		1928	Cat1
	Savannah	1854	Cat3		1979	Cat2	David
S. Carolina	Hilton Head	1959	Cat3	Gracie	1979	Cat2	David	1985	Cat1	Bob
	Charleston	1989	Cat4	Hugo	1989	Cat4	Hugo
	Myrtle Beach	1954	Cat4	Hazel	1954	Cat4	Hazel	1989	Cat4	Hugo
N. Carolina	Wilmington	1996	Cat3	Fran	1999	Cat2	Floyd	1999	Cat2	Dennis
	Morehead City	1996	Cat3	Fran	1999	Cat2	Floyd	2003	Cat2	Isabel
	Cape Hatteras	1993	Cat3	Emily	2003	Cat2	Isabel	2005	Cat1	Ophelia
Virginia	Virginia Beach	1944	Cat3		2003	Cat1	Isabel
	Norfolk	<1851			2003	Cat1	Isabel	1999	Cat1	Floyd
Maryland	Ocean City	<1851			<1851			1985	Cat3	Gloria
	Baltimore	<1851			1878	Cat1		1954	Cat2	Hazel
Delaware	Rehoboth Bch	<1851			<1851			1985	Cat3	Gloria
	Wilmington	<1851			<1851			1954	Cat2	Hazel
New Jersey	Cape May	<1851			1903	Cat1		1985	Cat3	Gloria
	Atlantic City	<1851			1903	Cat1		1985	Cat3	Gloria
New York	New York City	<1851			1903	Cat1		1976	Cat1	Belle
	Westhampton	1985	Cat3	Gloria	1985	Cat3	Gloria
Connecticut	New London	1938	Cat3		1991	Cat2	Bob
	New Haven	1938	Cat3		1985	Cat2	Gloria
	Bridgeport	1954	Cat3	Carol	1985	Cat2	Gloria
Rhode Island	Providence	1954	Cat3	Carol	1991	Cat2	Bob
Mass.	Cape Cod	1954	Cat3	Edna	1991	Cat2	Bob
	Boston	1869	Cat3		1960	Cat1	Donna	1991	Cat1	Bob
N. Hampshire	Portsmouth	<1851			1985	Cat2	Gloria
Maine	Portland	<1851			1985	Cat1	Gloria
	Eastport	<1851			1969	Cat1	Gerda	1985	Cat1	Gloria