The U.S. Census Bureau recently set out to better understand the financial impact of extreme weather on businesses.

The agency used its periodic Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) to dig deeper in the issue. In late 2023 and early 2024, researchers queried businesses nationwide by posing the question: "In the last six months, did this business experience any monetary losses due to an extreme weather event (for example, hurricane, flood, drought, or heat wave)?"

The slideshow above highlights results from that survey.

Among other outcomes, the survey revealed the "devastation on business" in Houston resulting from Hurricane Beryl. "Many of the hardest hit areas… received both individual and public assistance from [the] Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)," writes Census Bureau Statistician Keith Savage.

Savage adds: "The share of Houston businesses that reported monetary loss due to extreme weather more than doubled from one collection period to the next. The impact was even felt statewide: the share of Texas businesses that reported a loss because of the hurricane nearly doubled."

The agency's research also rolled in data from 2024 winter storms, which accounted for more than 100 deaths nationwide.

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• A closer look at Hurricane Beryl damage, recovery efforts