With months to go before the end of 2023, the United States has set a new record for the number of climate disasters in a year costing $1 billion or more.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Monday that there have been 23 climate disasters and weather events that have cost at least $1 billion through the end of August, breaking the record of 22 disasters set in 2020. Disasters so far this year have cost more than 57.6 billion dollars and claimed the lives of 253 people.
It is possible that the number will rise even higher. NOAA is still compiling the total cost Tropical Storm Hillary, which wreaked havoc across California last month, and drought in the South and Midwest. There is also an “above normal” forecast for this year Hurricane seasonWhich will continue until the end of November.
Some recent costly disasters include the Hawaii firestorm, Hurricane Idalia, and hailstorms in Minnesota.
Last year, there was 18 extreme climate phenomena Which caused at least $1 billion in damage each, for a total of more than $165 billion.
FEMA Administrator Deane Criswell warned in August that… The organization's disaster fund could dry up Within weeks and delaying the federal response to natural disasters. President Biden asked Congress last month to allocate $12 billion to replenish the disaster fund, but Criswell said on “Face the Nation” that $12 billion in additional money may not be enough.
The costliest event this year, adjusted for inflation, occurred in early March across parts of the southern and eastern US states, when severe storms, high winds and tornadoes caused an estimated $6.1 billion in damage, destroying homes, vehicles, businesses and infrastructure, according to Noah. The recent wildfires on Maui, which destroyed the town of Lahaina, caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. California floodsWhich lasted for several months and caused damage estimated at $4.6 billion.
Noah
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the number and cost of disasters have increased over time. This increase has been caused by a range of factors, including climate change, where and how we build, and the value of structures at risk of potential loss.
“Vulnerabilities are particularly high when building codes are insufficient to limit damage from extreme events,” says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Climate change is also playing a role in the increasing frequency of some types of extreme weather that lead to billion-dollar disasters — most notably increased exposure to drought, lengthening wildfire seasons in western states, and the potential for extremely heavy rainfall” becoming more common in eastern states.
Between 1980 and 2023, 61 tropical cyclones, 185 severe storms, 22 wildfires, 42 flood events, 22 winter storms, 30 droughts, and 9 freezes costing $1 billion or more have affected the United States, according to NOAA. The total cost of those 371 events exceeds $2.615 trillion. There were an average of 18 annual events costing $1 billion or more between 2018 and 2022.
2017 was the costliest year for climate disasters, with damages amounting to about $383.7 billion, according to NOAA. That year, the United States was rocked by Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Irma, and the total damage amounted to about $328.6 billion. Western wildfires also cost about $22.5 billion.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began tracking billion-dollar disasters in 1980. In the years since, every state in the country has been affected by at least one weather event. Texas has been hit particularly hard, with more than $100 billion worth of weather events affecting at least part of the state. The central, southern, and southeastern regions typically see billion-dollar disasters more frequently than other parts of the United States
