Since 1980, the United States has been hit by 403 separate weather and climate disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damages — $2.915 trillion total in CPI-adjusted dollars and 16,941 lives lost. The pace is accelerating dramatically: the 1980s averaged 3.3 events per year with 82 days between each; the 2020s are averaging 23 events per year with just 19 days between them. Hurricane Katrina remains the costliest single event at $200B, but the real story is frequency — 2023 and 2024 each saw over 27 billion-dollar disasters. Texas leads with 171 events ($436B), while Florida tops in cost at $450B from 88 events. Tropical cyclones account for $1.54T of the total, but severe storms are the most frequent at 200 events. The dashboard tracks every year, every type, every state, and the shrinking gap between catastrophes using NOAA's authoritative data.
403 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters between 1980 and 2024, per NOAA. These caused $2.915 trillion in CPI-adjusted damages and killed 16,941 people. The 2020s average 23 events per year, up from 3.3 per year in the 1980s.
$200 billion — Hurricane Katrina (2005) remains the most expensive, killing 1,833 people. Hurricane Harvey (2017) ranks second at $160B, Hurricane Ian (2022) third at $119.6B, and Hurricane Maria (2017) fourth at $115.2B with 2,981 fatalities.
Every 19 days in the 2020s, down from every 82 days in the 1980s — a 77% reduction in the gap between catastrophic events. The US had 27 billion-dollar disasters in 2024 alone, the second most on record behind 2023's 28.
Texas leads with 171 events and $436B in damages. Florida ranks second in cost at $450B from 88 events. Georgia (142 events), Illinois (137), and Missouri (130) round out the top five by frequency. Louisiana has $314B in damages from 91 events.
$1.543 trillion from 67 tropical cyclones makes hurricanes the costliest category at $23B average per event. Severe storms are the most frequent (200 events, $478B total). Drought accounts for $381B from 33 events, and wildfire $147B from 25 events.