2024 Saw a Record Number of Billion-Dollar Disasters

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According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. suffered 24 billion-dollar disasters in 2024, causing 418 fatalities and costing more than $61 billion in damage (and counting…).  It’s part of a disturbing trend that shows these massive events are on the rise.

Snapshot of the 2024 Billion-Dollar Disasters

According to the NOAA report, the 24 U.S. events from 2024 encompassed 17 severe storms, 4 tropical cyclones, 1 wildfire, and 2 winter storms.  The most impactful billion-dollar storms were:

• Hurricane Helene (9/24/24): Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 storm that made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend and then crawled up through parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, killing a total of 225 people.
• Hurricane Milton (10/9/24): Category 3 storm that also made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast, killing 24 people.
• Hurricane Debby (8/5/24): Category 1 storm that made landfall in Florida then circled around to South Carolina before spiraling up the East Coast, causing $2.5 billion in damage.
• Hurricane Beryl (7/8/24): Hurricane Beryl was a Category 1 storm that made landfall in Texas, spawning over 50 tornadoes and causing $7.2 billion in damage primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.
• June tornado outbreaks (6/24/24 – 6/26/24): States such as Nebraska, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts experienced thunderstorm-driven tornado activity over a 3-day period that caused about $1.7 billion in damage.
• July tornado outbreaks (7/13/24 – 7/16/24): States such as Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New York suffered more than 80 tornadoes over a 4-day period that caused about $2.4 billion in damage.
• New Mexico wildfires (6/17/24 – 7/7/24): Several wildfires scorched parts of New Mexico, the most significant of which was the South Fork Fire, near the town of Ruidoso, which leveled over 1,000 structures. In total, the wildfires caused around $1.7 billion in damage.

Overall, since NOAA started tracking billion-dollar storms in 1980, a total of 400 have been witnessed, exceeding a whopping $2.785 trillion in damage.  And, unfortunately, these events are on the rise: The number of billion-dollar disasters averaged 8.5 per year from 1980-2023, compared to an average of 20.4 events from 2020-2024.  The bottom line: continuously work to optimize your emergency preparedness.