Each bar is one calendar year. The amber line is the 5-year rolling average — it filters out single-year spikes and shows the underlying trend. The 1980-2023 average was 9 events per year (red dashed line). The last five years (2020-2024) averaged 23. 2023's 28 events is the annual record.
NOAA's most-cited figure. In the 1980s the country went 82 days between billion-dollar weather events — almost three months. The 2020s average is 19 days — less than three weeks. That's a 4.3× compression in the time the country has to recover, rebuild, and reload.
Frequency and cost are both compounding. The 2020s already have 115 events through year five — only 6 fewer than the entire 2010s decade — and cumulative damages of $756B in five years vs. $945B across all of the 2010s.
Each year's bill stacks onto the last. The line started flat in the 1980s ($220B total over a decade), then bent up sharply after 2004's hurricane season and again after 2017 (Harvey + Irma + Maria + California fires = $395.9B in a single year). Last five years alone added $756B.
Tropical cyclones (hurricanes + tropical storms) account for $1.54 trillion — 53% of all damage from just 67 events. Severe storms (tornado outbreaks, hail, derechos) happened 200 times but average only $2.4B per event. Drought is the silent budget-killer — 33 events for $381B total.
The pie shows event count — severe storms dominate (200 events). But hover and you'll see tropical cyclones average $23B per event vs. just $2.4B for severe storms. The hurricane is the rare but ruinous outlier.
Hurricane Katrina (2005) remains the costliest single weather event in US history at $200B — more than the entire 1980s combined. Hurricane Harvey poured 60 inches of rain on Houston for $160B. Hurricane Maria killed 2,981 in Puerto Rico. Four of the top 18 happened in just 2017.
Hurricane Maria's 2,981 fatalities (mostly indirect, in Puerto Rico) make it the deadliest US weather disaster since 1900. Click a column header to sort.
| Event | Year | Type | Cost (2024 $B) ↓ | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Katrina | 2005 | Tropical Cyclone | $200.0B | 1,833 |
| Hurricane Harvey | 2017 | Tropical Cyclone | $160.0B | 89 |
| Hurricane Ian | 2022 | Tropical Cyclone | $119.6B | 152 |
| Hurricane Maria | 2017 | Tropical Cyclone | $115.2B | 2,981 |
| Hurricane Sandy | 2012 | Tropical Cyclone | $88.5B | 159 |
| Hurricane Ida | 2021 | Tropical Cyclone | $84.6B | 96 |
| Hurricane Helene | 2024 | Tropical Cyclone | $78.7B | 219 |
| Hurricane Irma | 2017 | Tropical Cyclone | $64.0B | 97 |
| Hurricane Andrew | 1992 | Tropical Cyclone | $60.5B | 61 |
| Midwest Drought | 1988 | Drought | $53.7B | 454 |
| Hurricane Ike | 2008 | Tropical Cyclone | $43.6B | 112 |
| Midwest Flood | 1993 | Flooding | $42.7B | 48 |
| West Drought | 2012 | Drought | $36.5B | 123 |
| Hurricane Milton | 2024 | Tropical Cyclone | $34.3B | 32 |
| Hurricane Wilma | 2005 | Tropical Cyclone | $32.5B | 35 |
| Hurricane Rita | 2005 | Tropical Cyclone | $31.0B | 119 |
| Camp / NorCal Fire | 2018 | Wildfire | $30.0B | 88 |
| Hurricane Michael | 2018 | Tropical Cyclone | $29.0B | 49 |
Texas leads with 171 separate billion-dollar events — it sits in the path of Gulf hurricanes, severe storm corridors, and droughts. Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Alabama all crossed 120 events. A single hurricane can hit 10+ states at once, so totals overlap.
Florida tops the cost ranking at $450B despite ranking 8th in event count — hurricanes hit Florida harder per event than anywhere else. Texas's $436B and Louisiana's $314B reflect Katrina, Ida, Harvey, and the Gulf Coast's vulnerability.
The average gap between billion-dollar US weather disasters fell from 82 days in the 1980s to 19 days in 2020-2024. Less time means overlapping recoveries, exhausted FEMA reserves, and contractors who never finish one job before the next storm hits.
Tropical cyclones are just 17% of events but 53% of damages — $1.543 trillion across 67 storms. Average storm cost: $23B. Severe storms hit 3× more often but average only $2.4B each.
Hurricanes Harvey ($160B), Irma ($64B), and Maria ($115B) plus California wildfires added up to $395.9B — more than the entire 1980s decade combined ($220B). 2022 and 2024 are tied for second at $183B each.
Texas has been hit by 171 billion-dollar disasters since 1980 — more than any other state — and racks up $436B in damages. It sits in the path of Gulf hurricanes, drought, severe storm corridors, and ice storms (2021 Texas freeze: $30B).
In just 5 years, the 2020s have produced 115 events and $756B in damage — more than the entire 1990s decade (53 events, $310B) and approaching the 2010s total ($945B). At current pace, the 2020s will end above $1.5 trillion.
NOAA stopped updating the Billion-Dollar Disasters dataset in May 2025. 45 years of consistent methodology — gone. The 1980-2024 archive remains public and is the most-cited record of US climate-related economic damage.