An average of 18 billion-dollar natural disasters socked the United States annually for the past five years, according to a recent article from Forbes Advisor. The increasing frequency and severity of weather catastrophes spurred editors at that publication to look more closely at where these events most often occur as well as the costs to recover. Among their findings:
  • In 2022, the U.S. experienced 18 climate disasters that caused over $1 billion in damage. These 18 weather disasters cost the country ​​$175.2 billion in damage and resulted in 474 fatalities. (Source: National Centers for Environmental Information)
  • Between 2012 and 2022, tropical cyclones were the costliest natural disasters among billion-dollar weather disasters ($744.3 billion), followed by severe storms ($218 billion) and droughts ($112.9 billion). (Source: National Centers for Environmental Information)
  • Over 40% of homeowners (42%) are concerned that weather events such as wind, rain, ice, hail or minor flooding will damage their homes in the next three months. (Forbes Advisor Homeowners Insurance Survey, April 2023).
With states such as California, Florida and Colorado already experiencing property-insurance challenges due to expensive storm recovery efforts paired with challenging regulatory environments, the states mentioned in the slideshow above, based on research from Forbes Advisor, could be the next battlegrounds in the capacity crisis. See also:

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Elana Ashanti Jefferson

Elana Ashanti Jefferson serves as ALM's PropertyCasualty360 Group Chief Editor. She is a veteran journalist and communications professional. Reach her by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

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