U.S. Ties Record for Costly Weather

2017 is shaping up to be an unprecedented year

 

In this Sept. 2, 2017, file photo, a crew with California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) battles a brushfire on the hillside in Burbank, Calif. If you think this has been a wild and costly year for weather disasters, federal meteorologists say you are right, it’s been record setting. So far this year the United States has had 15 weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damages. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, file)

 

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Howling winds, deadly floods, fire and ice so far this year have pushed the U.S. into a tie for weather disasters that topped $1 billion in damages.

See also  Wildfires Rage Near Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

There have been 15 costly disasters through September, tying 2011 for the most billion-dollar weather disasters for the first nine months of a year. The record for a year is 16, and the hurricane season is not over yet.

The figures released Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration include three hurricanes, three tornado outbreaks, four severe storms, two floods, a drought, a freeze and wildfires.

NOAA climate scientist Adam Smith said 2017 is shaping up to be an unprecedented year. It is likely to tie or break the record for billion-dollar weather disasters that was set in 2005, the year of Hurricane Katrina and other deadly storms.

See also  Nevada's Sandy Valley Fire 90% Contained

NOAA hasn’t calculated the costs from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, but an outside disaster risk company estimates the U.S. damage from the three hurricanes to be around $150 billion. The remaining disasters so far this year have cost more than $21.7 billion and killed 282 people, according to NOAA.

Damage figures are adjusted for inflation; records for billion-dollar disasters go back to 1980.

Between 1980 and 2007, the U.S. averaged only four billion-dollar disasters per year. In the decade since, the country has averaged 11 per year.

Experts blame a combination of factors.

“Climate change is impacting extreme weather in ways we hadn’t anticipated,” Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University said in an email.

See also  Charges Dropped Against Youths in Tennessee Wildfires

But an even bigger factor is that more people moving into harm’s way “has created massive amounts of exposure in regions prone to severe weather events,” said Mark Bove, a meteorologist at insurance giant Munich Re.

___

Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears. His work can be found here.

All contents © copyright 2017 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Topics

Subscribe to Our Monthly Newsletter

Stay in the loop with our wildland newsletter.

2017 is shaping up to be an unprecedented year     By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Howling winds, deadly floods, fire and ice so far this year have pushed the U.S. into a tie for weather disasters that topped $1 billion in damages. There have been 15 costly disasters through September, […]

Get The Wildland Firefighter Newsletter

Related Articles

Officials: New York State Isn’t Ready to Fight More Wildfires

Officials: New York State Isn’t Ready to Fight More Wildfires

NATHAN PORCENG - The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y. — This story first appeared in New York Focus, a non-profit news publication investigating New York state politics. Sign up for their stories at nysfocus.com/newsletter. Joseph Nickischer can’t remember...

Native American Wildland Firefighting Crews

Native American Wildland Firefighting Crews

Compiled by David Rhodes November is Native American Heritage Month, and Friday, Nov. 29, 2024 is Native American Heritage Day. U.S. National Native American Heritage Day is observed the day after Thanksgiving. Native Americans are accorded special honor on this day,...