The ability to predict storms is recent. I'd imagine that with major storms, the average person would have little, if any, warning ahead of time. What were casualty levels like during major storms?

Also, obviously it varies on location (little choice on an island nation), but in general would survivors / new people rebuild areas, or would they move on to a new area? Examples from any time period are welcome, but if anyone has info on colonial / early America and how it shaped the country, that would be interesting. Thank you.