Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it or what side of the fence you are sitting beside , the U.S. has had only four Category 4 (or stronger) hurricane strikes since 1970. what is more in the same number of years preceding 1970 there were 14 Hurricane Category 4 (or stronger) strikes. Further back a Category 4 hurricane struck Galveston in 1900, killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people. And never forget this little Gem either, we just went through an unprecedented length of time — almost 12 years — without a major hurricane (Cat 3 or stronger) making landfall in the U.S.