Jan. 9, 2020—The U.S. had 14 weather disasters costing $1 billion or more last year, according to Insurance Journal. Midwest flooding accounted for almost half of the total.
Though the number of costly catastrophes in 2019 was close to the average for the past five years, it was more than double the inflation-adjusted historical norm since 1980.
Disasters included Hurricane Dorian and Tropical Storm Imelda, wildfires in Alaska and California, and severe storms bringing hail and tornadoes across the Great Plains and Midwest. There were 119 billion-dollar weather disasters in the last decade, reaching a cost of $800 billion.