Factors that make a tropical cyclone destructive include not only the size, strength, and duration of the cyclone, but also when it makes landfall, where it makes landfall, and the infrastructure of that region.
Superstorm Sandy hit the northeast coast of the United States of America at the end of October 2012. Many people remember this hurricane because it affected so many states, temporarily devastated the infrastructure of New York City, cost a lot of money, and quite a few lives. One of the largest and most memorable impacts was the storm surge that hit New York City, flooding subways and streets and causing power loss. Some people went without power for weeks. 72 lives were lost.
Hurricane Katrina is arguably the most famous North American hurricane. In 2005, Katrina touched down in Florida, causing significant damage, then moved back to the Gulf of Mexico, where it built to a much bigger storm and proceeded to touch down in Louisiana and then Mississippi. The biggest devastation was a result of the infrastructure of New Orleans, Louisiana. Flooding there broke levees and flood walls, causing at least 80% of the city to flood, leaving some people trapped without access to food, water, or healthy sleeping conditions. 1,836 people lost their lives as a result of Katrina.
Hurricane Camille in Mississippi in 1969 and Hurricane Andrew in Florida in 1992 are a couple other North American hurricanes people may remember. While no one alive remembers it, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is remembered as one of the most devastating in history, due to financial cost and loss of life.
Typhoon Haiyan, also known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, occurred in 2013. It was one of the strongest storms ever recorded, and was the deadliest to ever make landfall in the Philippines. Over 14 million people were affected, with at least 6,200 deaths. The Philippines is hit by at least 20 tropical storms per year, and is also an area prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Although the economy in the Philippines is a large emerging market, many of the people there are very poor, making it hard to recover from these large natural disasters.
