HOUSTON – Hurricanes, derechos, and winter storms are all weather events that have left Houston in disarray.
Whether a tree fell on your house or flood waters swept away your belongings, the cost of Mother Nature’s wrath can be hard to recover from.
Natural and climate disasters cost the United States more now than they did in the 80s and the early 2000s.
I spoke with Forbes Tompkins, an expert scientist at Pew Charitable Trust, a data and strategy non-profit. Tompkins says climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, and high population density in geographically vulnerable areas also contributes to the increase.
Pew reports that from 1983 to 2002, 96 disasters totaled up to 543.6 billion in damages.
Compared to the following 20 years, 244 disasters cost 1.95 trillion.
Unfortunately, we are not only seeing a rise in cost, but a rise in deaths. In the 1980s, NOAA reported 299 deaths per year, which increased to 523 per year from 2010 to 2019.
As for this year, there have been 15 natural and climate disasters.
In a recent article, NOAA noted Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane and the second Category 5 on record during July in the Atlantic Ocean. Beryl also resulted in a hefty price tag of $6 billion in losses and damages.