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18 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in 2021 — So Far

Crank up the printing presses, we will need more money!

The quote below comes from a recent Washington Post article about the growing cost of natural disasters, fueled by climate change.

“This year is on pace to be one of the most active and costliest years for disasters in the United States. Through the first nine months of 2021, the U.S. has endured 18 separate weather and climate disasters that have cost at least $1 billion, according to the latest report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information. These 18 events put 2021 in second place for the most billion-dollar disasters behind 2020, when there were 22 such events. Last year shattered the previous annual record of 16 events, which occurred in 2017 and 2011. [A record 22 billion-dollar disasters struck the U.S. in 2020]”

Remember when we thought 2017 was a big disaster year? Hurricanes used to be the biggest ticket items when it came to disasters, but “normal” rain and flood events are starting to set their own standards for destruction. Then, don’t forget the wildfires in the west!

Most readers of this blog likely don’t think about earthquake threats or costs. However, the “maximum of maximums” would be a Cascadia Subduction Zone rupture, extending from British Columbia in the north to Northern California in the south.

How about a $500 billion single disaster? I pulled that number “out of you know where,” but the damages and impacts to the nation could be staggering both physically and economically.

We have yet to see the worst of the worst when it comes to disasters.