Hurricanes are among the most powerful and destructive forces on Earth, unleashing ferocious winds, torrential rains, and catastrophic storm surges. These colossal storms have shaped history, devastated cities, and even altered landscapes. From the origins of the word “hurricane” to bizarre survival stories and record-breaking storms, the facts behind these tempests are as fascinating as they are terrifying.
In this article, we explore 50 incredible facts about hurricanes—some shocking, some inspiring, and all a testament to the sheer power of nature. Whether you’re a weather enthusiast or simply curious about these mighty storms, prepare to be amazed by the raw force of nature’s wrath.
1 Origin of the Word “Hurricane”
The Mayan god of wind and storms, Jun Raqan—pronounced “Huracan”—inspired the word “hurricane.”
2. Since the 1940s, the U.S. government has been sending special planes into the eyes of hurricanes to track their paths. These planes fly through storms continuously, collecting data that provides the only precise way to locate the storm’s eye—a process known as “fixing the eye.”
3. In 1274, Kublai Khan invaded Japan with 33,000 troops but failed due to a severe typhoon. He attempted another invasion in 1279 with 140,000 troops, advancing within 15 kilometers of Fukuoka, but a typhoon once again thwarted his efforts. This event led to the term “kamikaze,” meaning “divine wind.”
4. After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA miscalculated supply needs and ended up storing 85 million pounds of ice in facilities across the U.S. The agency ultimately melted the ice two years later, incurring $12.5 million in storage fees.
5. The United States experiences more tornadoes than any other country, with over 1,200 occurring annually. Florida has the most tornadoes per unit area, while Oklahoma records the highest number of strong tornadoes per unit area.
6 Storms Named After Politicians
Hurricanes and cyclones have human names because meteorologist Clement Wragge, the first to name them, chose to name storms after politicians he disliked. This allowed him to say things like they were “causing great distress” or “wandering aimlessly.”
7. During Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Miami Zoo staff placed 30 flamingos in a bathroom to keep them safe. A widely shared image of the birds huddled together became one of the hurricane’s most iconic photographs.
8. Journalist Dan Rather rose to fame after his groundbreaking reporting during Hurricane Carla in 1961 that saved thousands of lives. He created the first radar weather report by overlaying a transparent map on a radar image of the hurricane, which helped facilitate the evacuation of 350,000 people.
9. An average hurricane releases an astonishing amount of energy—approximately 5.2 × 10¹⁹ joules per day—through cloud and rain formation. This is nearly 200 times the total electricity generated by humans worldwide.
10. In 1996, an extremely rare and powerful cyclonic storm resembling a hurricane formed over Lake Huron. It became the first recorded instance of such a storm developing over the Great Lakes region.
11 Florida’s Outward-Swinging Hurricane Doors
South Florida’s building codes require exterior doors to swing outward because this design provides better protection against hurricanes. Lawmakers enacted this regulation after Hurricane Andrew.
12. In 2012, the National Weather Service’s chief meteorologist predicted Hurricane Sandy would be a devastating storm six days before it struck the East Coast. Confident in his forecast, he included his personal phone number in the warning, inviting complaints if he was wrong. Ultimately, Sandy became the second-costliest storm in U.S. history.
13. The largest disaster in history occurred in 1975 during China’s Cultural Revolution when the Banqiao Dam collapsed during a typhoon. The disaster is estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands, but the Chinese Communist Party covered it up for nearly 20 years.
14. Two hurricanes can sometimes merge to form a larger, more powerful storm. This phenomenon is known as the “Fujiwhara Effect.”
15. On the atoll of Pinglelap, approximately 10% of the population has total colorblindness, while another 30% are unaffected carriers of the gene. This genetic trait resulted from a population bottleneck caused by a 1775 typhoon that left only 20 survivors, one of whom carried the gene for colorblindness.
16 Hurricane Ivan’s 130-Foot Waves
When Hurricane Ivan moved through the Gulf of Mexico in 2004, pressure sensors on the ocean floor detected a massive rogue wave measuring 91 feet high. Computer simulations later suggested that at its peak as a Category 5 storm, Ivan produced waves exceeding 130 feet.
17. During hurricane preparation, Strawberry Pop-Tarts become one of Walmart’s most-purchased food items.
18. On November 12, 1970, the Bhola Cyclone struck Bangladesh, killing over half a million people in a single day. In the storm’s aftermath, millions more perished due to famine, genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani government, and a war that nearly escalated into nuclear conflict.
19. After Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in the 1990s, the Choluteca Bridge remarkably survived the storm. However, the hurricane’s extreme flooding completely rerouted the river, leaving the bridge standing over dry land.
20. Approximately 44% of those who refused to evacuate during Hurricane Katrina stayed behind to avoid abandoning their pets. This crisis led to major changes in state and federal laws regarding pet evacuations during disasters.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Typhoon and Volcano Struck Together
In 1991, Typhoon Yunya struck the Philippines at the same time the country was experiencing the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century—Mt. Pinatubo eruption.
22. When Cyclone Olivia hit Australia in 1996, an anemometer recorded a wind gust of 254 mph (408 km/h), making it the fastest non-tornadic surface wind speed ever observed on Earth.
23. Six Flags New Orleans was abandoned after Hurricane Katrina. Today, the park remains an overgrown swamp, with many attractions still standing as they were before the hurricane.
24. The largest British ship ever lost at sea, the 92,000-ton MV Derbyshire, sank in a typhoon off Japan without issuing a mayday call. Investigators later found the wreck and concluded that the entire sinking could have occurred in as little as two minutes.
25. The Bermuda coat of arms features a depiction of a sinking ship. The ship Sea Venture, carrying some 150 colonists bound for Virginia, was shipwrecked on shoals off Bermuda during a hurricane in 1609. The crew survived and chose to stay on the island, becoming the first English settlers of Bermuda.
RE: Fact #44 (Comcast Charged Storm Victims Fees) – Comcast’s answers after the storm were all over the place. Some reps told people to go through their insurance, while others said to send the equipment back, even if it was wrecked or covered in mold.
Thinking about those “customer care” agents, probably stuck in India with no real power, is kind of depressing.
RE: Fact #26 (A Basketball Shot Saved Lives) – That reminds me, the People’s Temple basketball team were some of the only people who survived Jonestown because they were at a Georgetown basketball tournament.
Do cults usually have basketball teams?
RE: Fact #38 (Could Machine Guns Stop Hurricanes?) – Want to shoot a hurricane? You’ll need a day, a whole army of big guns, and twenty billion bucks’ worth of ammo. Side effect: you might poison the whole east coast. Probably won’t get a medal for that.
Texas is game.
Hop in the truck
RE: Fact #26 (A Basketball Shot Saved Lives) – Hey, related thing – a plane crashed into the stands at a Baltimore playoff game back in the 70s. Crazy enough, a ton of fans survived because the Steelers crushed the Colts, and most people left early. Jon Bois made a killer video about it.
RE: Fact #1 (Origin of the Word “Hurricane”) – Juracán actually comes from the Taino people of the Caribbean. The article says it might be from a Caribbean version, and the Juracán wiki page confirms the Spanish word borrowed from it.
RE: Fact #13 (China’s Hidden Dam Disaster) – The CCP is seriously insecure and way over the top. They’re unbelievably ridiculous, and it’d be hilarious if they weren’t so obviously bad.
I hate the CCP, but North Korea’s a real thing.
That’s a good point, but I think China just has a bigger economy.
I get why China wants everyone to get along, but when nobody can ever say anything bad about the government, things get messed up pretty fast.
China’s made huge strides in people’s lives, but trying to control everything everyone says, with no accountability, never works out well. People might never be able to fight back and take control.
That’s why I’m way more scared of new tech used to track people and spy on them than I am of criminals. The worst crimes are often perfectly legal.
RE: Fact #33 (Cyclone Ended Samoan Naval Standoff) – Germany had it as a colony until World War One, then New Zealand just swooped in and took it—no fighting needed.
RE: Fact #11 (Florida’s Outward-Swinging Hurricane Doors) – In Canada, doors open inwards. Makes sense, right? Think about all that snow! Though, global warming might change things.
Residential only. Businesses and factories usually have doors that swing outwards.
RE: Fact #29 (Deadliest U.S. Hurricane: Galveston 1900) – Galveston was known as the “New York City of the Gulf” back then—it was one of the four richest cities in America. That storm totally changed everything for Galveston.
RE: Fact #36 (Hurricane Disrupted Jurassic Park Filming) – Seeing JP in theaters for the first time was totally insane, especially considering how used we are to CGI now. The dinosaurs? They looked real, no jerky, fake animation. It was amazing.
It took them a year to make just four minutes of CGI for that movie, but man, it still looks amazing! Back then, a whole CGI movie would’ve been mind-blowing, like Toy Story. Now, it’s totally normal.
So, the dinosaurs were meant to be realistic, the ILM crew made a version, and the rest is history.
T-Rex and raptors were pretty useful in a few parts of the movie.
This ILM guy whipped up a four-second T-Rex walk, even though his bosses told him not to. Someone saw it, and boom – the rest is history.
RE: Fact #31 (Cows Swam to Safety) – We grew up with goats and sometimes a cow. Three sides of their pasture were fenced, the fourth was a pond. The goats didn’t mind – they hated water. But that cow? She’d sometimes swim across the pond, a good hundred yards! Those cows were surprisingly good swimmers. It totally makes sense.
Yeah, I’ve seen swimming cows too! Those big, gas-filled stomachs really help them out. Apparently, people in the Hebrides used to swim their cows between islands.
Cool, some new words to learn! Crofters are basically small-scale farmers who keep their animals in small areas and let them graze. They often work together, sharing the grazing land. The Hebrides are islands in Scotland. And a rumen? It’s the biggest part of a ruminant animal’s stomach – like a cow’s – where bacteria break down food instead of using acids and enzymes.
RE: Fact #5 (U.S. Leads in Tornado Frequency) – Wow, I’m surprised Florida’s got the most per square mile! That’s a neat map.
Tornadoes around here usually aren’t very strong, or they get lost in the mix with the tropical storms and hurricanes that created them.
RE: Fact #24 (Typhoon Sank Britain’s Largest Ship) – A week later, they found an empty lifeboat 700 miles off, completely torn apart.
RE: Fact #19 (Bridge Left Standing Over Land) – Lots of blogs use the bridge as a symbol of change, adapting, and shaking things up—I saw it on Google.
That’s what the source article’s about.
RE: Fact #31 (Cows Swam to Safety) – So they biked ten miles, then ran five—that finished off their first-ever Cape Lookout triathlon! They celebrated with a high-five. Apparently, they’ve even started a super successful animal CrossFit gym back home.
Lean beef
RE: Fact #33 (Cyclone Ended Samoan Naval Standoff) – Britain’s naval history is pretty strange; the weather’s often decided their battles for them.
RE: Fact #39 (Entire State Under Tornado Warning) – Forty-five years ago, the “Super Outbreak” happened—the deadliest tornado outbreak until 2011. Over 300 people died when nearly 150 tornadoes hit in less than a day. Places like Xenia, Ohio, were really devastated.
RE: Fact #40 (Tornado-Carried Bathtub Saves Woman) – So, it wasn’t a tornado at all; she was just using Herbal Essences.
She chewed five sticks of gum.
RE: Fact #29 (Deadliest U.S. Hurricane: Galveston 1900) – So many bodies, they just piled ’em up and burned them.
See those old Victorian houses still standing on the island? They’re there because the waves smashed tons of houses closer to the shore, creating a huge pile of rubble that acted like a protective wall.
Then, they raised the city and built a seawall to stop it from happening again.
That also helped Houston become a major port. Before the storm, Galveston was the biggest port in Texas.
They just piled ’em up and set ’em on fire.
Yeah, they tried dumping 700 in the ocean, but they all came back, so they had to build huge bonfires and burn them for weeks after the mess.
RE: Fact #27 (Woman Lost 5 Homes to Hurricanes) – “Seriously? Fifth time already? They think *I* caused the hurricane!”
The feds back flood insurance – no private company could handle all those flood claims. The whole thing’s a mess, even if they mean well. They should be paying people to move, not to stay in flood-prone areas.
Federal flood insurance is crazy expensive! My house is right by a stream, in the highest risk zone according to the feds. It’s been here almost 200 years and never flooded once. I use Lloyd’s of London for my insurance.
RE: Fact #7 (Flamingos Sheltered in a Bathroom) – The one under the sink.
That’s how that saying, “two in the pink and one in the stink,” started.
That was so funny, I actually laughed! Take my upvote.
RE: Fact #20 (Pets Delayed Katrina Evacuations) – I got certified in emergency preparedness during my master’s—one of my professors even worked with FEMA! He said states handle pet evacuations differently; some keep pets in safe shelters, others evacuate them with their owners. Evacuating pets with people is tough on the animals—all that close contact can really stress them out and make them act out.
RE: Fact #24 (Typhoon Sank Britain’s Largest Ship) – It goes down in two minutes, after the front of the ship fills with water over 13 to 30 hours. Basically, the pipes up front were busted, letting water into the ship for hours. I wonder if the crew even realized what was happening, or if they just figured the waves were getting bigger instead of the ship sinking because it was filling with water.
Yeah, it lost buoyancy pretty fast, over a single day. But going from basically afloat to a total wreck in just two minutes? That’s insane. I bet if they knew how much water was coming in, they’d have contacted someone…though a rescue probably wouldn’t have helped much anyway in that mess.
Back then, their bosun’s store probably had a bilge alarm, but it was likely a manual valve – someone would’ve had to go open it. Their tank-sounding tech might not have been great, so they may not have even known the front tank was filling up. Checking manually would’ve been impossible with the waves and the flooded bosun’s store.
I bet they felt something was wrong just from how the ship was acting. That’s awful weather to launch a lifeboat, but things went south so fast, they probably didn’t have a chance.
Pretty scary, huh?
RE: Fact #17 (Walmart’s Hurricane Pop-Tart Surge) – I crunched the numbers a while back, and Pop-Tarts are crazy cheap for how many calories you get. Even more so than rice and stuff. You’d practically have to chug vegetable oil to beat them.
RE: Fact #47 (Hurricane Harvey Broke Rainfall Scale) – Australia also recently added a new color to their heat scale—the old one maxed out!
Yeah, sounds right. That place is a total inferno in the summer.
Australia doesn’t really have volcanoes, so that’s one thing you don’t have to worry about. We’re super close to the Ring of Fire, but we don’t get many earthquakes.
RE: Fact #37 (Tornado Nearly Hit Nuclear Bombers) – The tornado felt something stronger than it was, so it veered off.
RE: Fact #43 (Lethal Injections After Hurricane Katrina) – Ugh, this one sucks.
RE: Fact #34 (FEMA’s Waffle House Disaster Index) – That’s funny, because every time I eat there, the rest of the evening’s a total mess.
I’ve really enjoyed Waffle House food—I actually love it.
RE: Fact #8 (Dan Rather’s Breakthrough Hurricane Report) – Dan Rather was my first hero. I was totally obsessed—watched his news every night! I even dressed up as him for Halloween when I was three. Mom sent him a Polaroid and the whole story, and he wrote back a really nice letter saying how cool he thought it was. I bet Mom still has it.
Wow, that’s awesome! What a great keepsake!
RE: Fact #16 (Hurricane Ivan’s 130-Foot Waves) – Turns out, hundred-foot monster waves are pretty common in every ocean. Sailors have been telling tales of these huge waves for ages.
I was reading about the Edmund Fitzgerald wreck – totally freaked me out that something like that could happen on one of the Great Lakes.
RE: Fact #15 (Typhoon Caused Genetic Colorblindness) – So, Pingelap’s part of Pohnpei, which is in Micronesia.
Micronesia (or FSM, as they call it) used to be part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, run by the US until the islands set up their own governments. People often just call the whole area Micronesia, but that’s a pretty big area including Guam and other islands too.
Everyone from the Trust Territory can now live and work freely in the US, and they use US dollars and the post office. People from the Northern Mariana Islands are US citizens, while others from the former Trust Territory have special agreements with the US that let them live and work there.
That’s a really cool setup! I’m happy the US is welcoming them.
After all the nukes have gone off.
RE: Fact #20 (Pets Delayed Katrina Evacuations) – I wouldn’t leave my pets behind unless they dragged me out in cuffs. The thought of them starving, drowning, or baking in the heat is unbearable. They’re my family, I’d give my life for them just like I would my kids.
I totally ran into a burning building to save my cat! People thought I was nuts, but no way was I leaving him behind. He’s been with me through thick and thin—he’s family!
Let the firefighters handle it. You’re a danger to everyone. I would too. Pets are more important than liabilities.
They’re my whole world. I’m not having kids, so my pets are it for me. I know they’re not human, but they mean just as much. Giving them up? No way, I’d never sleep again.
RE: Fact #40 (Tornado-Carried Bathtub Saves Woman) – Right after college, my wife and I got caught in an Indiana tornado. Two giant grain bins—full of corn—vanished, along with the brand-new apartment building next door. Our ears popped, the roof flew off, and windows shattered everywhere. We huddled in the bathtub, pretty sure we were goners. Luckily, my boss was cool about me missing work.
That must’ve been terrifying! Did you get cut by the glass?
We had a mattress on top of us, so we were safe from cuts. The stairwell? Total chaos! Hopefully, that’s a one-off. That green sky was crazy before I ran for the bath.
RE: Fact #39 (Entire State Under Tornado Warning) – Indiana. Wow, what a state.
RE: Fact #4 (FEMA’s Costly Ice Miscalculation) – The government shells out around $12,000 for a 20-ton truckload of ice, delivered to where it’s supposed to go. Moving it further costs $2.60 a mile, and a day’s wait can run you up to $900. Makes sense they tried to keep it close, huh?
I bet some folks are raking in the dough from all this ice, thanks to some shady deals.
Weird, huh? The news didn’t out the companies that got those contracts. The Cato Institute wrote about FEMA messing up, but then gave Walmart and Home Depot a pat on the back, too. We’ll probably never know the real story.
RE: Fact #49 (Typhoon Hit Hiroshima After Bombing) – Japan: “Things couldn’t get any worse, right?”
Nature: “Oh yeah? Watch this.”
RE: Fact #47 (Hurricane Harvey Broke Rainfall Scale) – I learned this while watching the floodwaters rise in my yard.
RE: Fact #37 (Tornado Nearly Hit Nuclear Bombers) – It’s a good thing nuclear weapons aren’t as touchy as those cartoon bombs.
RE: Fact #13 (China’s Hidden Dam Disaster) – The floodwaters in Suiping created a massive wave—10 kilometers wide and 3 to 7 meters high—that slammed into the plains at around 50 kilometers an hour. It nearly wiped out a huge area, about 55 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide. Yikes.
That’s even creepier—more like anyone who talked about it just vanished. They weren’t so much covering it up as making people disappear.
It’s even creepier how much the CCP hides deaths and disaster damage. Think about the floods couple of years ago – tons of cars underwater in Zhengzhou, and they claim only a few hundred died? Or their COVID numbers? They didn’t even tell the WHO about COVID right away, and remember how long they hid SARS? They’re masters at sweeping things under the rug.
RE: Fact #32 (Heroic Pizza Hut Manager Dies) – So, similar thing happened, but no one survived. My uncle was in a special needs home. The guy in charge of two buildings, same situation, grabbed all four guys, crammed them in the bathtub – no basement, you know? He got a mattress, covered the tub, kept telling them everything would be alright. He stayed there on top of the mattress until the tornado got him. Everyone in the tub died, but they found him, still alive, stuck on some metal. He lived! The guy only made nine bucks an hour, but he’s a hero to me. He easily could’ve saved himself, but he tried to save my uncle and his friends instead. I met him once, really cool guy. Always a hero in my book.
Westboro Baptist tried showing up in Joplin after the tornado to preach hate, but some locals with shotguns turned them around pretty quick.
My uncle was found twelve hours later, still alive, but he passed in the hospital. And yeah, the worker lived, so we got his story too. My uncle kept thanking his caretaker and the hospital staff.
RE: Fact #7 (Flamingos Sheltered in a Bathroom) – Flamingos are flying all over the place, and we’re catching them! We’re soaked in flamingo water and everything. It’s like something out of Alice in Wonderland.
RE: Fact #32 (Heroic Pizza Hut Manager Dies) – I was on my girlfriend’s porch, a couple miles out of town, and watched this crazy tornado tear through. Most intense thing I’ve ever witnessed, and hopefully ever will.
RE: Fact #8 (Dan Rather’s Breakthrough Hurricane Report) – He really hit it big after JFK was shot. Dan Rather was there reporting the next day.
Then he kind of messed up his reputation. Later, he was talking to Nixon, and when Nixon asked if he was running for office because of his Vietnam War articles, he said, “No, Mr. President, are *you*?”
No way, I’m not missing this chance!
He’s known for being clueless about the frequency and definitely not being Kenneth.
I follow him online. Wow, I had no idea he was that old!
He was old, even when I was little. I’ll really miss him when he’s gone; he was a true National Treasure.
RE: Fact #11 (Florida’s Outward-Swinging Hurricane Doors) – I just moved to Florida, and I learned something new! I never even noticed the difference before, but it’s true. Up north, I always had a storm door, so you opened one in and one out. Down here, I don’t have a storm door, and it makes me wonder – if your main door opens out, maybe you can’t *have* a storm door? Huh.
In Ontario, and likely the rest of Canada, public buildings have to have doors that open outwards. It’s a safety thing—in a fire, if people panic, an inward-opening door would get blocked and people could be trapped.
It’s the same deal with US public buildings – same reasons. I just never thought about residential houses being any different!
RE: Fact #40 (Tornado-Carried Bathtub Saves Woman) – Is this woman related to Indiana Jones?
RE: Fact #12 (Meteorologist’s Confident Sandy Prediction) – Sometimes you just *know*, right? You’ve seen the pattern before, while others were clueless. That’s what experience is all about. This guy had that gut feeling, he knew the odds were long but still… What’s a career compared to saving lives?
RE: Fact #20 (Pets Delayed Katrina Evacuations) – Being stationed in Korea, my family came along, which was awesome. Even when we had to evacuate, my wife was able to bring our dog.
RE: Fact #41 (Prisoners Abandoned in Katrina Floods) – Wow, deputies just abandoned their posts, leaving prisoners locked up—some were chest-deep in sewage! They said they had zero emergency training and didn’t even know there was an evacuation plan. It was crazy—even some guards were locked in and couldn’t help anyone.
One awful story was about Ashley George, a 13-year-old girl at the Youth Center. They moved her next to adult men who watched her use the bathroom. Then the place flooded, and she was neck-deep in water for days! Adult prisoners actually rescued her and the other kids. After they got to the bridge, all she got was a bag of chips and water. She says she had to pee outside, and the pregnant girls got no help at all.
No one died, but that was just dumb luck.
That “messed up story” about the 13-year-old girl and the adult men’s holding area freaked me out at first, but the way the grown-up prisoners saved Ashley and the other kids? Total heartwarming ending.
Child predators don’t have an easy time in prison. It makes sense that other inmates helped her out. Prisoners aren’t all bad guys.
Nobody died, thankfully. But that was just plain lucky. This article says otherwise, though: There are no official reports of deaths, but one guy says the Sheriff’s lying – he saw dead bodies, a guy die of a heart attack and drown. Another guard calls the Sheriff’s claim “bullshit,” saying there were definitely deaths and he has no idea how they covered it up. He didn’t believe in conspiracies before, but now he does. The Sheriff’s office didn’t get back to them about it.
I bet the real number of people who died in Katrina is way higher than they officially said.
RE: Fact #27 (Woman Lost 5 Homes to Hurricanes) – Crazy how that article paints her as this huge victim, when really she’s just making the same dumb mistake over and over by building in the same flood zone.
I get some of what you’re saying, but some folks just don’t get the whole southern Louisiana vibe. I moved away, and honestly, I’d tell anyone they’re nuts to buy a house there. But it’s home to a lot of people, and for them, the whole cycle of destruction and rebuilding is almost a religion. They’re proud to tough it out. Check out that 2012 interview – she’s still got a great sense of humor about it all.
Losing your house is awful, obviously. Losing five? That’s crazy. Look, I left, but I get why people stay. It’s a mix of duty, stubbornness, tradition, pride, fear, love… you name it.
After the recent flood, the government help for folks who lost their homes came with a catch: you couldn’t use the money to build or rent somewhere outside the disaster area.
We’re completely stumped!
RE: Fact #4 (FEMA’s Costly Ice Miscalculation) – Government messes up sometimes, and it’s frustrating. But hey, at least the Katrina victims got the ice they needed to save their food. That’s better than the PPP loan rip-offs we saw in WA during the pandemic.
PPP had around $65 billion in outright fraud, and way more than that from businesses technically following the rules but still pocketing the money instead of using it to pay employees, even though they were already doing fine. It was like twelve and a half million dollars.
RE: Fact #23 (Abandoned Six Flags New Orleans) – A few buddies and I snuck in about fifteen years ago – it was awesome! Security’s too tight now, though.
RE: Fact #39 (Entire State Under Tornado Warning) – Way too many tornadoes! It’s a tornado fest!
RE: Fact #6 (Storms Named After Politicians) – It’s pretty low-key fun.
RE: Fact #9 (Hurricane Power Exceeds Human Energy) – Grab some batteries, lightning rods, and windmills.
RE: Fact #19 (Bridge Left Standing Over Land) – Seems like it nudged the river just the right amount. A little less, and the bridge would still be usable. But nope, it’s like, screw this particular bridge.
Water’s all, “Leave me alone!”
RE: Fact #23 (Abandoned Six Flags New Orleans) – They actually filmed Jurassic World in an old, empty parking lot. If you check it out on Google Earth, you can still make out the old streets.
RE: Fact #26 (A Basketball Shot Saved Lives) – My dad’s always told me how his Cubs—yeah, the Chicago Cubs—accidentally saved tons of lives back in the ’80s. They choked and lost the series lead to the Giants, which meant the Giants played the A’s in the World Series. A huge earthquake hit the Bay Area during one of those games, but hardly anyone died because everyone was inside watching the game instead of being on the bridges.
Man, I’ll never forget watching the pregame show when that happened. Some guy was waving a huge piece of concrete at the cameras – it had fallen from way up high.
The quake hit right when everyone should’ve been stuck in traffic, but surprisingly, the roads were almost empty. People were glued to their TVs or at the game.
Loma Prieta would’ve been a disaster without that game.
They just spruced up the stadium. It was really falling apart before; could’ve been a disaster.
RE: Fact #16 (Hurricane Ivan’s 130-Foot Waves) – I used to be a sailor, and let me tell you, we once battled 70-foot waves for hours. Not fun.