It is maybe no surprise, but 2024 is off to a damaging (and deadly) year for storms. Freezes and heat domes in Texas. Tornadoes in Chicago. And flooding pretty much everywhere.
Well how much does this damage from the storms cost the US?
“An analysis from the reinsurance company Munich Re found that severe thunderstorms in the U.S. caused $45 billion in losses from January to June [2024], $34 billion of which were insured. That makes 2024 the fourth-costliest thunderstorm year on record, based on the first six months.”
Scientific American, Thunderstorms Have Caused $45 Billion in Damages in the U.S. in Just Six Months, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thunderstorms-have-caused-usd45-billion-in-damages-in-the-u-s-in-just-six
Also maybe not a surprise but 2023 was also a Historic Year for storm damage cost.
“There were 28 weather and climate disasters in 2023, surpassing the previous record of 22 in 2020, tallying a price tag of at least $92.9 billion. This total annual cost may rise by several billion when we’ve fully accounted for the costs of the December 16-18 East Coast storm and flooding event that impacted states from Florida to Maine.”
“The costliest 2023 events were the Southern / Midwestern Drought and Heat Wave ($14.5 billion) and the Southern and Eastern Severe Weather in early March ($6.0 billion).”
NOAA, 2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2023-historic-year-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters
