Over the last few decades, various types natural disasters wreaked havoc across the US, but which cataclysms cost the most?
The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lists hundreds of costly disasters that occurred from 1980 to 2024.
“The US has suffered 403 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where total damages/costs have reached or exceeded $1 billion (including CPI adjustment through 2024). The total cost of those 403 events exceeds $2.915 trillion,” NCEI notes.
Hurricane Katrina tops the list with a staggering $200 billion price tag. (Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)
Hurricanes occupy nine of the top 10 spots on the “Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters” list.
The cost estimates provided by the NCEI are not precise – there are different figures reported for the listed disasters, including the CPI-adjusted estimated cost as well as lower and upper bounds at 75%, 90% and 95% confidence intervals.
1. Hurricane Katrina, $201.3 billion
In this NOAA satellite image, Hurricane Katrina is seen in the Gulf of Mexico on August 28, 2005. (NOAA via Getty Images)
Topping the list with an estimated CPI-adjusted cost of $201.3 billion is Hurricane Katrina, which hit the US in 2005. The lower bound for the cost at a 95% confidence interval is $151.3 billion, while the upper bound is $242.8 billion dollars.
“A Category 3 hurricane first impacts the US as a Category 1 hurricane near Miami, FL, then as a strong Category 3 hurricane along the east coast of LA-western MS, resulting in severe storm surge damage (max surge likely to exceed 30 feet) along the LA-MS-AL coast, wind damage and failures of parts of the levee system in New Orleans,” summary notes. “Inland effects included high winds and some flooding in the states of AL, MS, FL, TN, KY, IN, OH and GA.”
2. Hurricane Harvey, $160 billion
Hurricane Harvey, which hit the US in 2017, is the second costliest disaster on NCEI’s list, with an estimated CPI-adjusted $160 billion. The lower bound on the 95% confidence interval is $108.8 billion, while the upper bound is $211.2 billion.
“The Category 4 hurricane made landfall near Rockport, Texas, causing widespread damage. Harvey’s devastation was most pronounced due to the large area of extreme rainfall that caused historic flooding across Houston and surrounding areas,” the summary reads in part.
3. Hurricane Ian, $119.6 billion
The third costliest disaster on NCEI’s list is Hurricane Ian in 2022 at $119.6 billion, adjusted for CPI. The lower bound on the 95% confidence interval is $83 billion, while the upper bound is $155 billion.
“Ian made landfall near Cayo Costa, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph” and “slowly crossed Florida” before “re-emerging over the Atlantic as a tropical storm, re-intensifying on the 1 a hurricane category on September 30 and made landfall near Georgetown, SC, with sustained winds of 85 mph causing more coastal flooding damage and destroying several large piers nearby Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,” the description reads.
Destroyed homes and debris are seen on Matlacha Island in Lee County, Florida, after Hurricane Ian on November 7, 2022. (Giorgio VieraI/AFP via Getty Images)
The rest of the top 10
Ian is followed on the list by Hurricanes Maria (2017 – $115.2 billion), Sandy (2012 – $88.5 billion), Ida (2021 – $84.6 billion), Helene (2024 – $78.7 billion dollars), Irma (2017 – 64 billion dollars) and Andrew (1992 – 60.5 billion dollars).
The 1988 “US Drought/Heat Wave” was listed as the tenth costliest disaster on the list, with an estimated CPI-adjusted cost of $54.6 billion.
“1988 drought over much of the US with very severe losses in agriculture and related industries. Combined direct and indirect death (ie, excess mortality) from heat stress estimated at 5,000,” the summary said.
What about forest fires?
Although many Americans paid attention to horrendous wildfires engulfing parts of California as of last week, wildfires do not make the top 10 on NCEI’s list.
In that category, NCEI says wildfires in 2018 were the costliest, citing “Western Wildfires, California Firestorm,” at an estimated $30 billion, adjusted for CPI.
The 2018 Camp Fire tops the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (CAL FIRE) list of the “20 Deadliest Wildfires in California” and the “20 Most Destructive Fires in California.” The fire resulted in 85 deaths and destroyed 18,804 structures, according to CAL FIRE.
The Palisades and Eaton fires in January 2025 already ranked third and fourth on the list of the most destructive wildfires in the state, with 5,316 structures destroyed in the Palisades Fire and more than 5,000 destroyed in the Eaton Fire, although the numbers are not final.
FIRES IN LOS ANGELES: MORE THAN 10,000 HOMES AND BUSINESSES DESTROYED, AT LEAST 10 DEAD
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AccuWeather A preliminary estimate of the damage and economic loss associated with the wildfires ravaging parts of California is $135 billion to $150 billion.
AccuWeather estimates $13 billion to $16 billion for Maui wildfires in 2023 and $225 billion to $250 billion for Hurricane Helene in 2024. NCEI lists the 2023 Maui wildfire as a “Hawaii firestorm” and lists an estimated cost of $5.7 billion adjusted to the CPI.
