Weather & Science
US Suffered Record Number of Billion-Dollar Climate Disasters in 2023
- At least 492 people died in heat waves, floods and fires
- Rising number of disasters has become ‘the new normal’
Flood waters surround a home during rain storms in Salinas, California, in 2023.
Photographer: Josh Edelson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The US endured a record number of 28 weather and climate disasters in 2023, each causing $1 billion or more in damage and collectively killing at least 492 people.
The disasters, which included major floods in California, the Northeast and Florida and wildfire in Hawaii, broke the old mark of 22 such disasters set in 2020, the National Centers for Environmental Information reported Tuesday. Deaths were the eighth highest in records for the contiguous US going back to 1980. The disasters caused a total of $92.9 billion in damages and losses, but that figure could rise after a final analysis is done to storms and flooding that hit the East Coast in mid-December.