Events

2024
2024
In 2024, 1 Drought, 5 Tropical Cyclone, 17 Severe Storm, 1 Wildfire, 1 Flooding, and 2 Winter Storm billion-dollar disaster events affected the United States (CPI-adjusted).
Event
Type
Begin
Date
End
Date
Summary
CPI-Adjusted
Estimated
Cost
(in Billions)
Deaths
Hurricane Milton
October 2024
Tropical CycloneOctober 9, 2024October 10, 2024Category 3 Hurricane Milton with 120 mph sustained winds made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida on October 9. A storm surge of 5 to 10 feet cased damage from Naples to Charlotte Harbor. Milton's track to the south of Tampa Bay lessened storm surge impacts on the densely populated Tampa metro region. Dozens of tornadoes were also spawn from Milton that damaged many homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure across southern Florida. Milton underwent rapid intensification into a Category 5 hurricane with 180 mph sustained winds and a 897 mb central pressure reading. An environment of enhanced wind shear the day prior to landfall reduced Milton's peak wind potential. $34.3 CI32
Hurricane Helene
September 2024
Tropical CycloneSeptember 24, 2024September 29, 2024Category 4 Hurricane Helene with 140 mph sustained winds was the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Big Bend region of Florida having made landfall near Perry, Florida on September 26. Helene was the third hurricane to hit the Big Bend region in just over a year. It caused up to 15 feet of storm surge along the Big Bend coast and six feet of surge as far south as St. Petersburg. It also caused billions of dollars in damage to Georgia's agriculture sector. Helene's most severe impacts were from the historic rainfall (up to 30+ inches) and flooding across much of western North Carolina. This flooding eclipsed the region's previous worst flood from 1916. Asheville and many surrounding cities and communities were heavily impacted. Southwestern Virginia and extreme eastern Tennessee were also heavily impacted. Damage came in many forms. Landslides, debris flows, and historic levels of flooding inundated and destroyed homes, businesses, parks, hospitals, the electrical, cellular and water system infrastructure, and damaged thousands of roads, highways and bridges, as examples. Additional information is currently being assembled that summarizes the vast scope of damage produced by Helene. Helene was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Maria (2017), and the deadliest to strike the U.S. mainland since Katrina (2005).$78.7 CI219
Hurricane Francine
September 2024
Tropical CycloneSeptember 11, 2024September 12, 2024Category 2 Hurricane Francine made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana on September 11, with 100 mph sustained winds. The storm caused wind and flood damage to homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure across coastal Louisiana. Francine also produced heavy precipitation in parts of Alabama and Georgia. Muscle Shoals, AL recorded a three-day rainfall total of 9.02 inches beginning on September 12, which is its third highest 3-day total on record since 1893.$1.3 CI0
Hurricane Debby
August 2024
Tropical CycloneAugust 5, 2024August 9, 2024Category 1 Hurricane Debby made landfall on August 5 near Steinhatchee, Florida with 80 mph sustained winds and a second landfall near Bulls Bay, South Carolina as a tropical storm on August 8. Debby produced over 10 inches of rainfall from southwestern Florida up through the coastal sections of Georgia and the Carolinas. Debby continued to track up the East Coast affecting numerous states with heavy rain, flash flood and river flooding and strong winds. A frontal system merged with the remnants of Debby that led to flash flooding in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and southeastern New York. This interaction also produced an EF-1 tornado that impacted Buffalo, New York.$2.5 CI17
Central and Eastern Tornado Outbreak and Severe Weather
July 2024
Severe StormJuly 13, 2024July 16, 2024An outbreak producing more than 79 tornadoes developed across many central and eastern states. There were also over 1,000 reports of high wind and hail damage during this multi-day event. On July 15, this outbreak spawned 32 tornadoes and broke the Chicago-area record for the most tornadoes in a day. The states most impacted were Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New York that experienced considerable damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure.$2.4 CI2
Hurricane Beryl
July 2024
Tropical CycloneJuly 8, 2024July 8, 2024Category 1 Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas on July 8 producing widespread high wind damage, as the storm was restrengthening at landfall. One significant impact were power outages that impacted millions of people for days. Beryl also produced more than 50 tornadoes across eastern Texas, western Louisiana and southern Arkansas. On July 1, Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane and the second Category 5 on record during the month of July in the Atlantic Ocean.$7.2 CI46
New Mexico Wildfires
June 2024
WildfireJune 17, 2024July 7, 2024Numerous wildfires cause damage to homes, vehicles, businesses, agriculture and other infrastructure in New Mexico during June and July. The most impactful wildfire so far this year is the South Fork Fire that began on June 17 near the town of Ruidoso. It spread rapidly due to strong winds and destroyed over one thousand structures$1.8 CI2
Central and Northeast Severe Weather
June 2024
Severe StormJune 24, 2024June 26, 2024High wind, hail and tornadoes impact numerous central and northeastern states on June 24-26. Several states were impacted by tornadoes including Nebraska, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. On June 25, an EF-3 tornado hit Whitman, Nebraska and the surrounding area. It was the first strong tornado to impact Grant County, Nebraska in more than 70 years. On June 26, a tornado that impacted Providence County, Rhode Island was the first June tornado reported in the state since records began in 1950.$1.7 CI3
Upper Midwest Flooding
June 2024
FloodingJune 16, 2024June 23, 2024Heavy rainfall created destructive flood conditions that damaged thousands of homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure crops over a multi-state region. Across southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa, June precipitation totaled 10-15 inches, with much of the rainfall from June 16-23. This rainfall resulted in widespread catastrophic flooding that breached dams and levees, closed interstate highways, forced evacuations, and required numerous water rescues. Heavy rainfall also inundated crops that were impacted in parts of Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan.$1.1 CI4
Central and Eastern Severe Weather
June 2024
Severe StormJune 12, 2024June 14, 2024Damaging hail, high wind and tornadoes impact several central and eastern states including Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania on June 12-14. Central and northern Minnesota received damage from quarter to golf ball sized hail while the metro region of Omaha, Nebraska experienced up to baseball sized hail damaging homes, vehicles and businesses. There were also two dozen tornadoes and hundreds of damaging wind reports across these states.$1.2 CI0
Colorado Hail Storms and Southern Severe Weather
May 2024
Severe StormMay 31, 2024June 1, 2024Severe hail storms caused damage across eastern Colorado, with numerous reports of golf ball to baseball-sized hail. There was considerable damage to homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure. Severe storms also produced high wind damage across Texas.$3.0 CI0
Texas Hail Storms
May 2024
Severe StormMay 27, 2024May 28, 2024Golfball to softball-sized hail caused extensive damage across north and east Texas. Some of these hail storms impacted major cities including Dallas and Houston where homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure were damaged.$2.3 CI1
Central Tornado Outbreak
May 2024
Severe StormMay 25, 2024May 26, 2024An outbreak producing more than 110 tornadoes developed across many central states. The states most affected include Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Kentucky causing widespread damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. On May 25, an EF-3 tornado tracked through the Montague, Cooke and Denton counties of Texas, with maximum winds of 140 mph that caused seven fatalities and at least 100 injuries.$3.5 CI16
Central, Southern, Eastern Severe Weather
May 2024
Severe StormMay 18, 2024May 22, 2024Severe storms across many central, southern and eastern states produced widespread impacts from several dozen tornadoes, severe hail and high winds. The states most impacted were Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin, as each experienced considerable damage to homes, vehicles, businesses, agriculture and additional infrastructure. On May 21, an EF-4 tornado cut a 44-mile path across southeast Iowa, with peak wind speeds of 175-185 mph. The town of Greenfield, Iowa was heavily damaged. Multiple 'Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS)' watches were issued by NOAA's National Weather Service for these states, during this multi-day sequence. Several eastern states also sustained high wind damage from these storms.$4.9 CI5
Southern Derecho
May 2024
Severe StormMay 16, 2024May 17, 2024A rare southern derecho event produced high wind damage from Texas to Florida. Central and eastern Texas were impacted by high winds at times exceeding 100 mph. These winds also ripped through downtown Houston blowing out numerous windows in skyscrapers causing considerable damage. Louisiana, Alabama and Florida also were impacted by damaging winds impacting many homes, vehicles and businesses.$1.6 CI8
Southern Severe Weather
May 2024
Severe StormMay 11, 2024May 13, 2024Damaging hail, tornadoes and high wind impact central and eastern Texas, southern Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle on May 11-13. In addition to golf ball sized hail in Texas, more than a dozen tornadoes cause damage to homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure in near coastal counties of Louisiana, Texas and Florida.$1.1 CI1
Central, Southern, Southeastern Tornado Outbreak
May 2024
Severe StormMay 6, 2024May 9, 2024An outbreak producing more than 165 tornadoes developed across many central, southern and southeastern states. The states most affected include Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. This multi-day tornado outbreak produced at least 61 EF-0, 79 EF-1, 13 EF-2, three EF-3, one EF-4 tornado and dozens of EF-U (unknown/unrated) tornadoes, causing widespread damage to homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. The towns of Barnsdall and Bartlesville, Oklahoma were impacted by an EF-4 tornado that caused extensive damage.$6.6 CI3
Central and Southern Tornado Outbreak
April 2024
Severe StormApril 26, 2024April 28, 2024An outbreak producing more than 140 tornadoes developed across several central and southern states including Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas causing widespread damage to many homes, businesses, vehicles, agriculture and other infrastructure. Eastern Nebraska was particularly impacted by numerous strong tornadoes. Lincoln narrowly avoided a direct hit, with a large tornado touching down on the edge of the city. The same storm also spawned a mile-wide tornado that heavily damaged the towns of Elkhorn, Bennington, and Blair on the outskirts of Omaha. On April 27, an EF-4 tornado struck Marietta, Oklahoma damaging a large commercial distribution center. Near downtown Omaha another EF-3 touched down at Eppley Airfield, which destroyed several hangars and airplanes. Several tornadoes also touched down close to Topeka, Kansas while an EF-3 tornado caused extensive damage to the town of Westmoreland.$1.7 CI3
Southern and Eastern Severe Weather
April 2024
Severe StormApril 8, 2024April 11, 2024Southern and eastern severe weather produced tornadoes, hail and high wind, from Texas to Virginia. The event began with severe hail and high wind impacts across central and eastern Texas, followed by more than 20 tornadoes impacting the Gulf Coast counties of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. There were additional high wind and tornado impacts in North Carolina and Virginia.$2.7 CI0
Central Tornado Outbreak and Eastern Severe Weather
April 2024
Severe StormApril 1, 2024April 3, 2024A central tornado outbreak produced more than 85 tornadoes across a three-day period from Oklahoma to West Virginia. This outbreak included 19 EF-0, 52 EF-1 and 14 EF-2 tornadoes, which were most concentrated across the Ohio River Valley on April 1-2. These tornadoes and severe weather impacts across several eastern states caused damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure.$2.5 CI3
Central and Southern Severe Weather
March 2024
Severe StormMarch 12, 2024March 14, 2024Damaging hail, tornadoes and high wind from severe storms impact many Central and Southern states. Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri were affected by up to baseball-sized hail damaging homes, vehicles, businesses. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio were impacted by hail, high wind and dozens of tornadoes including a deadly EF-3 striking northwest Ohio.$6.2 CI3
Central and Eastern Severe Weather
February 2024
Severe StormFebruary 27, 2024February 28, 2024Severe storms produced two dozen tornadoes, hail and high wind impacts across northern Illinois, central Ohio and southern Michigan. There were additional high wind impacts focused across northern Kentucky and northern Georgia causing damage to homes, vehicles, businesses and other infrastructure.$1.5 CI0
Southern Severe Weather
February 2024
Severe StormFebruary 10, 2024February 12, 2024Severe storms produced up to golf ball sized hail across central and eastern Texas causing damage to homes, vehicles and businesses. Additional damage from hail and high winds and training thunderstorms caused flooding across portions of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.$1.1 CI0
Central, Southern, Northeastern Winter Storm and Cold Wave
January 2024
Winter StormJanuary 14, 2024January 18, 2024A bitterly cold airmass affected numerous central and southern states most including Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia. This long-duration cold wave produced sleet and freezing rain accumulations into the deep south, across much of Mississippi. High winds also pushed wind chills well below zero for many states contributing to dozens of fatalities, many in Tennessee. Damage also occurred to homes, vehicles and businesses from the high winds and frozen precipitation.$1.9 CI41
Southern Tornado Outbreak and East Coast Storm
January 2024
Severe StormJanuary 8, 2024January 10, 2024Southern tornado outbreak and east coast storm impacted more than a dozen states. At least 39 preliminary tornadoes were clustered around the Florida Panhandle through the Carolinas while hundreds of high wind reports were scattered up the East Coast reflecting damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and other infrastructure. The strongest tornado was an EF-3 that caused significant damage around Panama City Beach, Florida, after an intense waterspout moved onshore.$2.8 CI3

The confidence interval (CI) probabilities (75%, 90% and 95%) represent the uncertainty associated with the disaster cost estimates. Monte Carlo simulations were used to produce upper and lower bounds at these confidence levels (Smith and Matthews, 2015).

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