NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
Summary Stats
Return billion-dollar weather and climate statistics for an area of interest over a selected period of time.
| Disaster Type | Events | Events/Year | Percent Frequency | Total Costs | Percent of Total Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Flooding | 2 | 1.0 | 10.5% | $1.0B-$2.0B | 2.2% |
| Freeze | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Severe Storm | 12 | 6.0 | 63.2% | $2.0B-$5.0B | 4.0% |
| Tropical Cyclone | 5 | 2.5 | 26.3% | $50.0B-$100.0B | 93.7% |
| Wildfire | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Winter Storm | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| All Disasters | 19 | 9.5 | 100.0% | $50.0B-$100.0B | 100.0% |
†Deaths associated with drought are the result of heat waves. (Not all droughts are accompanied by extreme heat waves.)
Flooding events (river basin or urban flooding from excessive rainfall) are separate from inland flood damage caused by tropical cyclone events.
| Time Period | Billion-Dollar Disasters | Events/ | Cost | Percent of Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s (1980-1989) | 11 | 1.1 | $10.0B-$20.0B | 3.5% |
| 1990s (1990-1999) | 13 | 1.3 | $50.0B-$100.0B | 16.7% |
| 2000s (2000-2009) | 19 | 1.9 | $100.0B-$200.0B | 23.2% |
| 2010s (2010-2019) | 17 | 1.7 | $50.0B-$100.0B | 16.5% |
| Last 5 Years (2020-2024) | 34 | 6.8 | $100.0B-$200.0B | 40.1% |
| Last 3 Years (2022-2024) | 23 | 7.7 | $100.0B-$200.0B | 38.7% |
| Last Year (2024) | 11 | 11.0 | $50.0B-$100.0B | 11.4% |
| All Years (1980-2024) | 94 | 2.1 | $300.0B-$450.0B | 100.0% |
The distribution of damage from U.S. Billion-dollar disaster events from 1980 to 2024 is dominated by tropical cyclone losses. Tropical cyclones have caused the most damage ($1,543.2 billion, CPI-adjusted) and also have the highest average event cost ($23.0 billion per event, CPI-adjusted). Drought ($367.5 billion, CPI-adjusted), severe storms ($514.3 billion, CPI-adjusted) and inland flooding ($203.0 billion, CPI-adjusted) have also caused considerable damage based on the list of billion-dollar events.
Severe storms have caused the highest number of billion-dollar disaster events (203), while the average event cost is the lowest ($2.5 billion, CPI-adjusted). Tropical cyclones and flooding represent the second and third most frequent event types (67 and 45), respectively. Tropical cyclones are responsible for the highest number of deaths (7,211), followed by drought/heatwave events (4,658) and severe storms (2,145).
Citing this information:
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/, DOI: 10.25921/stkw-7w73
