Tropical Cyclones Tip the Scales as Most Costly Natural Disasters
Accounting for only 17 percent of the total number of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the U.S. since 1980, tropical cyclones have caused 47 percent of the total damages attributed to this class of event, as calculated by the National Centers for Environmental Information. The NCEI expects this percentage to rise dramatically after costs are fully calculated for the major hurricanes that hit the U.S. in 2017.
The NCEI tabulates costs for events based on direct costs such as physical damage to property or assets, business interruption, damage to vehicles or public infrastructure, loss of agricultural assets, disaster restoration costs and other factors.