The 5 deadliest hurricanes in American history now include Hurricane Maria — with new death toll

Hurricane Maria, which ravaged the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico last year, became one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history after new research shows a death toll more than 70 times the original count.

Maria hit in a year that saw six major hurricanes — including Harvey, Irma and Maria — that doubled the average annual number of storms in the same area. And experts predict the 2018 hurricane season will meet or exceed those averages.

These are the five deadliest hurricanes in American history:

The Great Galveston Storm (1900)

© AP 1900 Galveston hurricane-- A large part of the city of Galveston, Texas, is reduced to rubble after being hit by a surprise hurricane Sept. 8, 1900. More than 6,000 people were killed and 10,000 left homeless from the storm.

Hurricane Maria (2017)

Nearly 5,000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria last September, according to a new report by the New England Journal of Medicine. The Puerto Rican government has previously said the official death toll is 64.

The island continues to recover, but efforts have been delayed by its problematic power grid, and electricity has not been restored to all of the island nearly nine months after the storm. The new death toll has refocused complaints that federal authorities have not done enough to help struggling Puerto Ricans.

The Okeechobee Hurricane (1928)

A brutal storm first hit Puerto Rico then Palm Springs, Fla., in September 1928. More than 18 inches of rain fell in less than a day, flooding Lake Okeechobee. The gusty winds pushed the water south, washing away homes and eventually killing as many as 3,000 people, according to Palm Beach County History Online. The Herbert Hoover Dike was later built around the lake to prevent future flooding.

Hurricane Katrina (2005)

In August 2005, 1,833 people died when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama. The historic flooding topped levees, burying New Orleans and displacing hundreds of thousands of Southerners. Many of the dead were left to decompose on rooftops and streets, drawing sharp criticism of the government's response.

Tens of thousands of people were forced to seek refuge in the Superdome, which descended into chaos and became a symbol of the city’s unpreparedness. A decade after Katrina, evacuees shared their stories with USA TODAY.

The Chenière Caminada Hurricane (1893)

Also known as the Great October Storm, nearly 1,400 people are estimated to have died in a massive hurricane that wiped out a Louisiana fishing community. That’s nearly the population of the entire town — which had a post office, school, shrimp cannery and resort hotel, according to NOLA.com. The water reportedly pushed many bodies out to sea, and others remain in a marked mass grave near Grand Isle, La.