1. Hurricane Allen
Year: 1980
Maximum speed: 190 mph
Death toll: 249 (211 in Texas)
Damage cost: $300 million
Hurricane Allen is the first of 15 biggest, deadliest, most devastating hurricanes to hit the United States, and the most unusual, too. The disaster story had lots of twists and turns. It turned into the Category 5 three times, which hadn’t been recorded before. Louisiana and Texas were most affected. Louisiana’s oil platforms suffered great damage, while Austin airport had to invest $50 million to do the repairs.