26 A Basketball Shot Saved Lives
In 2008, a single basketball shot may have saved hundreds of lives. Alabama player Mykal Riley made a three-point shot that pushed the game into overtime—just minutes before an EF-2 tornado passed by. Had he missed, hundreds of fans might have been in the parking lot when the tornado hit.
27. Louisiana native Melanie Martinez lost five separate homes to five different hurricanes: Betsy (1965), Juan (1985), George (1998), Katrina (2005), and Isaac (2012).
28. Hurricane names follow a predetermined six-year rotation. However, if a hurricane is particularly devastating—like Katrina—its name is permanently retired from the list.
29. The deadliest hurricane in U.S. history struck Galveston, Texas, in 1900, killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The storm’s debris and bodies spread so far that trains six miles (9.7 km) from the city had to stop. Meanwhile, floodwaters destroyed all bridges connecting Galveston to the mainland.
30. In 1944, Typhoon Cobra sank three U.S. Navy destroyers, damaged nine other ships, and claimed the lives of 790 sailors.
31 Cows Swam to Safety
During Hurricane Dorian in 2019, three cows were swept off an island in North Carolina but were later found alive on a different island. Cape Lookout National Seashore Park officials believe the cows swam up to five miles to safety.
32. A Pizza Hut manager in Joplin saved many lives during the city’s devastating tornado in 2011 by guiding customers into a walk-in freezer. He bungee-corded his arm to the handle to keep the door closed, but the tornado ultimately pulled him into it and killed him.
33. The Samoan Crisis, a standoff between the U.S., British, and German navies over control of Samoa, ended when the 1889 Apia cyclone wrecked the U.S. and German fleets. Only the British corvette, HMS Calliope, managed to survive the storm.
34. In recent years, FEMA has used Waffle Houses as unofficial disaster recovery indicators. These restaurants, located throughout hurricane-prone areas of the U.S., operate 24/7 and have exceptional disaster preparedness, allowing them to reopen quickly after storms.
35. In 1994, category 5 Hurricane John became the longest-lasting storm on record, persisting for 31 days. It traveled 7,165 miles, briefly became a typhoon, and caused $15 million in damage—but resulted in zero deaths.
36 Hurricane Disrupted Jurassic Park Filming
A hurricane struck Hawaii while Jurassic Park was filming, destroying sets and stranding the cast and crew in a leaking hotel ballroom. To keep spirits up, Steven Spielberg played cards with the child actors and told them stories. The film later incorporated real footage of the hurricane.
37. The 1991 Andover tornado, an F4 storm, made a direct hit on McConnell Air Force Base, narrowly missing 10 B-1B bombers—two of which were armed with nuclear weapons.
38. Technically, we can stop a hurricane by shooting at it—if you had 5,000 machine guns firing continuously into the wind for 24 hours straight.
39. During the 1974 tornado outbreak, Indiana forecasters, overwhelmed by the sheer number of simultaneous tornadoes, issued a blanket tornado warning for the entire state. This was the only time in U.S. history that an entire state was placed under a tornado warning.
40. In 2017, a 75-year-old Texas woman took shelter from a tornado in her bathtub. The storm tore the roof off her house, lifted the tub out of her bathroom, and carried it into the woods—where she was found uninjured inside it.
41 Prisoners Abandoned in Katrina Floods
During Hurricane Katrina, thousands of prisoners were abandoned in Orleans Parish Prison as floodwaters and sewage rose to neck-deep levels. They endured days without food, water, or ventilation.
42. Typhoon Tip, which traversed the Western Pacific for 20 days in 1979, was the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded, reaching its peak with 160 mph winds and an air pressure of 870 mbar. Nearly half the size of the contiguous United States, it devastated Japan with powerful winds, flooding, and mudslides.
43. After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Memorial Medical Center lost power and running water and saw indoor temperatures soar above 100°F. In response, caregivers chose to hasten the deaths of some patients by administering lethal doses of morphine.
44. After Hurricane Ike (2008), Comcast continued billing customers who had lost their cable, phone, and internet equipment in the storm. Some even received collection notices, with the highest reported charge being $1,000—later reduced to $931 as compensation for interrupted phone service.
45. No hurricane has ever crossed the equator. The Coriolis force, which is essential for storm rotation, is zero at the equator. Some rare storms, though, have come within three degrees of it.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
46 Hurricane Released Pythons in Florida
Burmese pythons have overrun the Florida Everglades in part due to Hurricane Andrew. The 1992 storm destroyed a breeding facility, releasing hundreds of snakes into the wild.
47. As Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in 2017, the National Weather Service had to add two new colors to its rain accumulation map as the old color key topped out at an amount of rain they never before thought would fall.
48. Survivors of Australia’s infamous 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires reported shocking phenomena: houses exploding from sudden air pressure changes before the flames even reached them, steaks found fully cooked inside deep freezers, a car displaced 90 meters by the firestorm, and sand melted into glass.
49. A typhoon struck Hiroshima just one month after the atomic bombing, killing an additional 2,000 people.
50. During Hurricane Camille in 1969, rainfall in Virginia became so intense that birds drowned in trees, and people had to cup their hands around their faces to breathe. According to the National Weather Service, the storm produced the maximum possible rainfall meteorologists believe is theoretically achievable.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
RE: Fact #27 (Woman Lost 5 Homes to Hurricanes) – “Seriously? Fifth time already? They think *I* caused the hurricane!”
RE: Fact #7 (Flamingos Sheltered in a Bathroom) – The one under the sink.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?