Short answers, pulled from the story.
The campaign known as Operation Gomorrah began on the 24th of July 1943 and lasted for eight days and seven nights. It remains the heaviest assault in the history of aerial warfare at that time.
Hamburg emerged as the ideal target because its construction made it particularly vulnerable to incendiary weapons. The city contained high numbers of industrial targets supporting the war effort including shipyards and U-boat pens while its location near the coast and on a prominent river made navigation easier for pilots flying from British bases.
By December 1943 there were 31,647 confirmed dead but only 15,802 bodies had been identified. Later newspaper accounts described findings of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey publicly released on the 30th of October 1945 giving German estimates between 60,000 and 100,000 deaths.
Unusually dry and warm weather combined with concentrated bombing created a tornadic fire that generated winds up to 100 miles per hour and temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This vortex drew oxygen from above and sucked carbon monoxide into basement shelters where thousands sought safety.
Priority shifted immediately to fighter production as research intensified for more effective radar technology. By August 1943 forty-five percent of all German fighters were located on the home front with additional units stationed in northern France while heavy anti-aircraft guns increased by over twenty-five percent across the Reich.