13. The Georgia Hurricane of 1881
The hurricane season of 1881 was a relatively quiet one for the continental United States, though the limited weather tracking ability of the time makes it impossible to know for certain how many storms formed at sea that year. One which did came ashore between Savannah, Georgia and St. Simons Island on August 27 at 9.30 in the evening, with little warning and little preparation by residents of the region. Estimated to have been a Category 2 storm, with peak winds of 80 mph measured before those same winds destroyed the anemometer, the storm moved quickly inland. Its landfall coincided with high tide, and the high waters caused extensive damage in Savannah and on the barrier islands.
The flooding in Savannah was particularly deadly, and at least 335 people were killed in the city, either by drowning or from injuries sustained as buildings collapsed under the weight of the onrushing water. As the hurricane moved west it continued to drop heavy rains across the South, finally breaking up in Mississippi by the end of the month. The high winds began to subside in Mississippi on August 29. The storm killed at least 700 people across the south from the combination of its destructive winds, heavy rains leading to flooding, the storm surge in Savannah and along the coast.