US Climate Disasters Racked Up $165 Billion in Damage in 2022
Hurricane Ian had the highest price tag in the nation’s third-costliest year ever for disasters, according to NOAA.
A resident walks home in the aftermath of September’s Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers, Florida.
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/BloombergA massive hurricane, a historic drought, and 16 other major disasters across the US collectively racked up $165 billion in damages and killed at least 474 people in 2022, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration analysis published Tuesday.
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information track the biggest of the big disasters, each one costing at least $1 billion in damage. 2022 was the nation’s third most expensive year for billion-dollar disasters by NOAA’s ranking, following 2017 ($373.2 billion) and 2005 ($253.5 billion).