151 To 400 Fatalities
| Year | Type | Fatalities | Damage (US$) | Article | Location | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 outbreak | 348 | ~$11,000,000,000 (2011) |
April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak | Midwestern United States, Southern United States, Eastern United States, Southern Ontario | 358 tornadoes, with one of the deadliest in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama. 324 tornadic deaths in all with another 24 from related weather. |
| 1930 | Fire (building) | 322 | Ohio Penitentiary | Columbus, Ohio | ||
| 1944 | Accident - Explosion | 320 | Port Chicago disaster | Port Chicago, California | WWII ammunition ignited | |
| 1974 | Tornado outbreak | 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 outbreak | 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 region | Fatalities estimated |
| 1953 | Tornado outbreak sequence | 247 | Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak sequence | Michigan
Ohio, Nebraska and Massachusetts |
116 Deaths in Flint, Michigan, 94 in Worcester, Massachusetts. | |
| 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 | Long Island, New York | ||
| 1997 | Accident - Aircraft | 228 | Korean Air Flight 801 | Nimitz Hill, Guam | ||
| 1998 | Terrorism | 223 | 1998 United States embassy bombings | Tanzania
Kenya |
4,000+ injured | |
| 1999 | Accident - Aircraft | 217 | EgyptAir Flight 990 | Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket, Massachusetts | ||
| 1940 | Fire (building) | 209 | Rhythm Club Fire | Natchez, Mississippi | ||
| 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 | ||
| 1863 | Mass Murder, Military Operation | 185-200 | Lawrence Massacre | Lawrence, Kansas | ||
| 1890 | Mass Murder, Military Operation | 178 | Wounded Knee Massacre | Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota | ||
| 1908 | Fire (building) | 174 | Collinwood school fire | Cleveland, Ohio | ||
| 1908 | Fire (building) | 171 | Rhoads Opera House | Boyertown, Pennsylvania | The incident spurred the Pennsylvania legislature into passing new legislative standards for doors, landings, lighting, curtains, fire extinguishers, aisles, and marked exits. 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, Connecticut | ||
| 1977 | Fire (building) | 165 | Beverly Hills Supper Club fire | Southgate, Kentucky | ||
| 1946 | Tsunami and Earthquake | 165 | Aleutian Island earthquake | Alaska
Hawaii |
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| 1944 | Maritime Accident | 163 | West Loch Disaster | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | Classified as top secret until 1960. | |
| 2011 | Tornado | 158 | $2,800,000,000 - (2011) |
2011 Joplin tornado | Joplin, Missouri | Part of the May 21–26, 2011 tornado outbreak sequence. 4 additional fatalities resulted indirectly from this tornado. |
| 1987 | Accident - Aircraft | 156 | Northwest Airlines Flight 255 | Detroit, Michigan |
Read more about this topic: List Of United States Disasters By Death Toll