January 21, 2025

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The Costliest Natural Disasters in U.S. History.

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The Los Angeles wildfires were still burning when this was written, and it’s not yet possible to understand the full economic impact of the event. Last week, AccuWeather “increased its preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss to between $250 billion and $275 billion,” reported Monica Danielle. A week earlier, the estimate had been $52 billion to $57 billion. 

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If the new forecast holds up, it puts the wildfires at or near the top of the list of costliest natural disasters in the United States. Not including the wildfires, six of the top 10 events have happened over the past decade. Here are the top 10, as listed in AARP.org using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (All dollar figures were adjusted for inflation.)

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1.    Hurricane Katrina, 2005, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama:  $201.3 billion
2.    Hurricane Harvey, 2017, Texas:  $160.0 billion
3.    Hurricane Ian, 2022, Florida:  $160.0 billion
4.    Hurricane Maria, 2017, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, and U.S. Virgin Islands:  $115.2 billion
5.    Superstorm Sandy, 2012, New Jersey, New York, and other states:  $88.5 billion
6.    Hurricane Ida, 2021, Louisiana and other states:  $84.6 billion
7.    Hurricane Helene, 2024, Florida, western North Carolina:  $78.7 billion
8.    Hurricane Irma, 2017, Florida, South Carolina, and U.S. Virgin Islands:  $64.0 billion
9.    Hurricane Andrew, 1992, Florida:  $60.5 billion
10.    United States drought/heat waves, 1988-1990, 11 U.S. states:  $54.6 billion

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In 2024, there were 27 weather and climate events that inflicted damage of $1 billion or more. Since 1980, there have been 403 events of that magnitude, with a total price tag of more than $2.9 trillion, reported NOAA.    ​

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Sources:

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf 
https://www.morningstar.com/economy/december-cpi-forecasts-predict-stalled-progress-inflation 
https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-inflation-rally-5a458448?refsec=the-trader&mod=topics_the-trader (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2025/01-20-25_Barrons_Why%20the%20Stock%20Market%20is%20Getting%20Ahead%20of%20Itself_3.pdf) 
https://www.barrons.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-011725?mod=hp_LEDE_C_1 (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2025/01-20-25_Barrons_Dow%20S&P%20Mark%20Best%20Weeks%20Since%20Nov_4.pdf) 
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/trading-investing/rocky-start 
https://www.barrons.com/market-data?mod=BOL_TOPNAV (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2025/01-20-25_Barrons_Data_6.pdf) 
https://home.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/interest-rates/TextView?type=daily_treasury_yield_curve&field_tdr_date_value_month=202501 
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweather-estimates-more-than-250-billion-in-damages-and-economic-loss-from-la-wildfires/1733821 
https://www.accuweather.com/en/blogs-webinars/california-wildfires-52-57b-damage-estimate-accuweather-report/1731718 
https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2021/costliest-natural-disasters.html 
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/ 
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/notable-quotes-from-jimmy-carters-funeral