Science · Facts & sources
6 sourced facts about natural disasters, each with the context behind the number. 4 more are in today's round and appear here after it closes.
Answerabout $182.7 billion
That made 2024 the fourth-costliest year on record, adjusted for inflation.
Source: NOAA Climate.gov / NCEI, 2024 billion-dollar disasters analysis (2024) climate.gov
AnswerHurricane Helene ($79.6 billion, 219 deaths)
Helene's flooding in western North Carolina eclipsed the region's previous worst flood from 1916.
Source: NOAA Climate.gov / NCEI, 2024 billion-dollar disasters analysis (2024) climate.gov
Answer2017 ($395.9 billion)
2005 ($268.5 billion) and 2022 ($183.6 billion) rank second and third.
Source: NOAA Climate.gov / NCEI, 2024 billion-dollar disasters analysis (2024) climate.gov
Answer180 mph (897 mb pressure)
Wind shear weakened it to Category 3 (120 mph) by landfall near Siesta Key, Florida.
Source: NOAA Climate.gov / NCEI, 2024 billion-dollar disasters analysis (2024) climate.gov
Answermore than 6,300
Those 190 disasters cost roughly $1.4 trillion in damage.
Source: NOAA Climate.gov / NCEI, 2024 billion-dollar disasters analysis (2024) climate.gov
Answer11
The rest: 6 tornado outbreaks, 5 tropical cyclones, 2 winter storms, 1 flood, 1 wildfire and 1 drought/heat wave.
Source: NOAA Climate.gov / NCEI, 2024 billion-dollar disasters analysis (2024) climate.gov