The BBC is tallying the fatality count for hurricane Katrina, along with an estimated damage toll of $25 billion. Thus, while the hurricane was devastating in terms of property, it has nothing on the amount of life that has been lost in the past, especially in areas like Bangladesh.
According to AccuWeather.com, a 1991 storm that hit Bangladesh killed 70,000 people.
christianaid.org reminds us that thousands died in the Caribbean and Bangladesh last year due to storms. Naturally, these areas won't be able to match the damage tallies of the American southeast -- they're just not wealthy enough.
The upshot of all this? We are very good at keeping our people alive during disasters.
Edit: Actually, we're very good at warning people in advance to leave. If you have no transportation of your own, you're stuck.
Here's a different comparison: In 2001, Louisiana had 952 traffic fatalities, with an economic cost of $4 billion. Mississippi had 784 traffic fatalities costing $2.1 billion. Florida had 3,012 fatalities costing $14.4 billion.
So if those three states can survive losing 4,748 residents and $20.5 billion a year to driving, they can probably deal with losing 80 people and $25 billion to a hurricane. Let's just hope there's not another one this year.
Second edit: The death toll in New Orleans appears to be much higher than the early accounts. Still on the order of driving-related deaths, but not a big advance over years past when we had less effective prediction mechanisms.