Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Destroyed homes and buildings on the waterfront in Lahaina on August 10 in the aftermath of wildfires on Maui.
CNN
—
It’s been a record-smashing year for the most expensive weather and climate disasters in the United States after severe storms, the deadly Maui wildfire and Hurricane Idalia tipped the scales last month.
With four months still left in the year, the US has been hit with 23 disasters that each cost at least $1 billion, according to new data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, surpassing the previous annual record of 22 events in 2020.
This year’s billion-dollar disasters have caused 253 direct and indirect fatalities and have resulted in $57.6 billion in damage, NOAA data shows. That price tag does not yet include Hurricane Idalia.
NOAA is still analyzing whether other events, including drought in the South and Midwest and Tropical Storm Hilary, which hit southern California this summer, may have surpassed the billion-dollar mark.
The impact of extreme weather is being amplified by decisions to build and rebuild in high-risk areas, and the events themselves are being supercharged by the climate crisis, said Rachel Cleetus, a policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“These record-breaking and sobering numbers are the latest confirmation of a worsening trend in costly disasters, many of which bear the fingerprints of climate change,” Cleetus told CNN. “In addition to climate change, our choices about how and where we develop and build are also putting more people and more valuable economic assets in harm’s way, raising the toll of disasters when they do happen.”
Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire
A house is seen knocked off its foundation on Wednesday, August 30, in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, in the Big Bend region where Idalia made landfall.
Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
People clean debris from a damaged building in Horseshoe Beach on August 31.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
A lineman works to restore service on Thursday, August 31, in Perry, Florida.
Cheney Orr/Reuters
Wreckage of a home is seen in Keaton Beach, Florida, on August 31.
Cheney Orr/Reuters
Jewell Baggett sits on a bathtub amid the wreckage of the home built by her grandfather, where she grew up and three generations of her family lived, in Horseshoe Beach on August 30.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
People work to clear I-10 of fallen trees near Madison, Florida, on August 30.
Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EFE via ZUMA Press
A person looks at the damage inside a destroyed house in Horseshoe Beach on August 30.
Thomas Simonetti/For The Washington Post/Getty Images
A boarded-up home is seen in Steinhatchee, Florida, on August 30.
Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network
Samarra Mullis, right, and Jack Lemburg make sandwiches for residents who sought shelter at St. Michael's and All Angels Episcopal Church in Savannah, Georgia, on August 30.
Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma Press
Rescue workers walk through water in Steinhatchee, looking for people in need of help on August 30.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Donnye Franklin helps a friend try to get floodwaters out of his store in Crystal River, Florida, on August 30.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
A pickup truck sits halfway into a canal in Horseshoe Beach on August 30.
Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EFE via ZUMA Press
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a press conference in Perry on August 30.
Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network
Residents talk with Savannah Alderman Nick Palumbo by an uprooted tree in Savannah on August 30.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
In an aerial view, a vehicle drives through a flooded street in downtown Crystal River on August 30.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Ken Kruse looks out at floodwaters surrounding his apartment complex in Tarpon Springs, Florida, on August 30.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images
People work to free a vehicle that was stuck in storm debris near Mayo, Florida, on August 30.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Makatla Ritchter, left, and her mother, Keiphra Line, wade through floodwaters after having to evacuate their home in Tarpon Springs on August 30.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Florida's Fort Myers Beach is seen during high tide ahead of Hurricane Idalia on August 29.
Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Shelves are left empty at a Target store in Gainesville, Florida, on August 29.
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/AP
Electrical line technicians walk among hundreds of trucks at Duke Energy's staging location in Sumterville, Florida, on August 29.
Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union/AP
Reagan Ortagus, 1, sits in her car seat as her father, Tyler, fills sandbags in St. Johns County, Florida, on August 29.
NOAA
This satellite image, taken at 11:15 a.m. ET on August 29, shows Hurricane Idalia moving toward Florida.
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
Ana Iris Aguiar stands at the front door of her home after Idalia passed La Coloma, Cuba, on August 29.
Marco Bello/Reuters
A man places plywood in front of a store in Cedar Key as he prepares for Hurricane Idalia on August 29.
Adrees Latif/Reuters
Pike Electric workers fortify power lines in Clearwater, Florida, on Tuesday, August 29.
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
A dog named Samson looks at his owner, not pictured, as he comes back to a flooded home in Playa Majana, Cuba, on August 29.
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Furniture is piled high inside Victor Cassano's home in Suwannee, Florida, as he prepares for Idalia on August 29.
Chris O'Meara/AP
Kiosks at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter are covered in protective wrapping at the Tampa International Airport on August 29. All flights from the airport
were canceled for the day.
Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
A couple is seen outside their house in a flooded area of Batabanó, Cuba, on Monday, August 28.
Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters
A man is evacuated from a flooded street as Idalia made landfall in Guanimar, Cuba, on August 28.
Doug Engle/USA Today/Reuters
Home Depot employee Sharon Walsh fills a cart with cases of water as customers prepare for Idalia in Ocala, Florida, on August 28.
Andrew West/The News-Press/USA Today
Fort Myers Beach resident Christine Willis prepares to evacuate the area on August 28. Her home was destroyed in Hurricane Ian, and she and her husband lost everything. They said they are not taking any chances and will stay in a hotel until Idalia passes.
So far, this year’s economic toll ranks well behind 2017 in total cost. That was America’s costliest disaster year on record, coming in at $383 billion, with the combination of a destructive California wildfire season and major hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria that struck within a single month.
Increasingly, disasters are striking one after the other, stretching federal, state and local resources to respond to and rebuild from them, said Adam Smith, a climatologist with NOAA.
“The US has been impacted by (major hurricanes) in six of the last seven years, including hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, Michael, Laura, Ida, Ian and most recently, Idalia,” Smith said. And the effects of those storms were felt far from the Gulf Coast in the form of destructive, extreme rainfall.
“More frequent disasters and shorter time intervals between disasters often result in less time and resources available to respond, recover and prepare for future events,” Smith said.
NOAA
Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters through August 2023.
The immense price tag is putting pressure on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund this year, and FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell has warned the fund would slip into the red this month if it is not replenished.
The White House initially asked Congress for $12 billion in additional money to replenish the fund, then upped that request by another $4 billion due to the “intensity of disaster activity around the nation,” a FEMA spokesperson said.
The Senate recently passed FEMA’s request as part of a larger set of funding bills. It is unclear when lawmakers in the House will pass those bills, which also include $24 billion in money for Ukraine – something Republican leadership in the House does not support.
Go Nakamura/The New York Times/Redux
Sarah Salmonese sits where her apartment once stood in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Friday, August 11.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Ken Alba carries a bag of ice at a food and supply distribution center that was set up in the parking lot of a Lahaina shopping mall on Thursday, August 17.
Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty Images
Fences are built around destroyed neighborhoods in Lahaina on August 17.
Jae C. Hong/AP
Destroyed homes are seen in Lahaina on Wednesday, August 16.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Bryan Anselm/The New York Times/Redux
A woman lays down flowers and prays on a hillside overlooking the rubble of Lahaina on August 16.
Mike Blake/Reuters
The Lahaina neighborhood of Wahikuli Terrace is seen on Tuesday, August 15.
Staff Sgt. Matthew A. Foster/US Army National Guard
Search-and-rescue workers look through damage in Lahaina on August 15.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
An FBI agent watches as two additional refrigerated storage containers arrive next to the Maui Police Forensic Facility where human remains were being stored in Wailuku, Hawaii, on Monday, August 14.
Rick Bowmer/AP
A spoon lies in the rubble of a home destroyed by the wildfire in Kula, Hawaii, on August 14.
Bryan Anselm/The New York Times/Redux
Lauren Haley sprays water on hot spots in her Kula neighborhood on August 14.
Rick Bowmer/AP
JP Mayoga, a chef at the Westin Maui Resort, is embraced by his wife, Makalea Ahhee, at the hotel near Lahaina on Sunday, August 13. About 200 employees were living at the hotel with their families.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Volunteers in Kihei, Hawaii, load water onto a boat to be transported to West Maui on August 13.
Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty Images
People pray during a church service in Wailuku on August 13. The Maui Coffee Attic opened up space for the service after a wildfire destroyed Lahaina's Grace Baptist Church.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
People wait in line at a checkpoint to gain access to Lahaina on Saturday, August 12.
Max Whittaker/The New York Times/Redux
Volunteers offload supplies that would be delivered to a distribution center for evacuees in Napili-Honokowai, Hawaii, on August 12.
Go Nakamura/The New York Times/Redux
Honolulu Fire Department responders work in Lahaina on August 11.
Go Nakamura/The New York Times/Redux
This aerial photo shows the shells of burned houses, vehicles and buildings in Lahaina on August 11.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Zoltan Balogh clears away trees that were burned by the wildfire in Kula.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Cars are backed up on the Honoapiilani Highway as residents are allowed back into wildfire-affected areas on August 11.
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
Volunteers in Maalaea, Hawaii, watch truckloads of donated food and supplies depart for Lahaina on August 10.
Rick Bowmer/AP
Wildfire wreckage is seen in Lahaina on August 10.
Mengshin Lin/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Volunteers stack canned goods at the War Memorial Stadium in Kahului.
Evelio Contreras/CNN
Burned cars sit in Lahaina on August 10.
Marco Garcia/Reuters
Vixay Phonxaylinkham holds his 4-year-old child Lana while they wait for their flight at the Kahului Airport on August 10. Phonoxaylinkham, his wife and their five children were heading back to California. They had been caught in the wildfires, but they survived by spending four hours in the ocean.
Claire Rush/AP
People arrive on school buses to evacuate the Maui airport on August 10.
Evelio Contreras/CNN
Building wreckage is seen in Lahaina on August 10.
Rick Bowmer/AP
Myrna Ah Hee reacts as she waits in front of an evacuation center in Wailuku on August 10. The Ah Hees were looking for her husband's brother. Their home in Lahaina was spared, but the homes of many of their relatives were destroyed by wildfires.
Mengshin Lin/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Puong Sui, center, talks to her daughter at the evacuation center in Kahului on August 10. Sui lost her house and belongings in Lahaina and was planning to fly to Las Vegas to reunite with her family.
Ty O'Neil/AP
A wildfire burns in Kihei on August 9.
Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies
This satellite image shows an overview of wildfires in Lahaina on August 9.
Rick Bowmer/AP
People gather at the Kahului Airport while waiting for flights on August 9.
Hawaii National Guard/Reuters
Helicopters with the Hawaii Army National Guard perform water bucket drops to assist in the firefighting efforts on August 9.
Ku'u Kauanoe/Civil Beat/ZUMA
Residents carry their belongings after wildfires swept through Lahaina on August 9.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Passengers try to sleep on the floor of the Kahului Airport while waiting for flights on August 9.
Matthew Thayer/The Maui News/AP
The hall of the historic Waiola Church and the nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames in Lahaina on August 8.
Criswell told CNN in a recent interview FEMA is not just dealing with severe weather disasters during the summer – it is dealing with them all year long.
“It’s a year-round operational tempo like we have never seen before,” Criswell said.
FEMA recently announced $3 billion in climate resilience grants, funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law, to help make various communities more resilient to stronger storms, higher flood waters and wildfires.
Cleetus said as the costs of disasters continue to mount, lawmakers need to spend more on helping make buildings and infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of extreme weather, including stronger storms and more intense heat.
“This kind of a dire situation is likely to happen year after year as climate change worsens,” Cleetus said. “As a nation, we have to invest much more in getting out ahead of disasters and investing in resilience to better protect people and infrastructure, not just picking up the pieces after the fact.”