Orlando, FLA. – With only two months left in 2022, the United States has already experienced 15 different billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, each sustaining losses of over 1 billion dollars.
The latest addition to the list was Hurricane Ian, which could be not only Florida’s costliest hurricane on record but also the costliest storm in the entire country.
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Halfway into the year, 2022 had already moved up to 5th place for the costliest years on record with nine between January and June.
Six new events have occurred since the mid-year update, including:
- Hurricane Ian
- Hurricane Fiona
- The Western Wildfires
- The Kentucky/Missouri flooding
- Two Severe Storm events
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, total losses due to property and infrastructure damage are up to $29.3 billion in 2022 so far – but this does not yet include the costs for Hurricane Ian, Fiona or the western wildfires, which may push the 2022 total closer to $100 billion. This total has been reached in four of the last five years.
To put that into perspective, 2021, which sits in second place, had 20 of those billion-dollar events. The costliest year for billion-dollar disasters was 2020 with a total of 22 events.
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