During 2024, thousands of our American brothers and sisters lost loved ones, property, and jobs to various weather/climate-related disasters that struck their state. Many of them are still recovering from their losses. Without resources, others will never recover. Tragedy does not impact us all in the same way.

On January 10, 2025, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the data and analysis quantifying the economic costs of the disasters that reached or exceeded US$1 billion. They confirmed 27 weather/climate disaster events, amounting to a total of US$182.7 billion. This places 2024 as the fourth costliest on record, trailing behind 2017 (US$395.9 billion), 2025 (US$268.5 billion), and 2022 (US$183.6 billion).

Killing 568 people, these weather/climate disasters were of several categories:

• 2 winter storm/cold wave events (across the Northwest and central/southern USA in mid-January).
• 1 wildfire event (the South Fork Fire in New Mexico that destroyed many homes, vehicles, businesses, and other infrastructure).
• 1 drought and heat wave event (causing impacts across the southern, eastern and northwestern USA).
• 1 flooding event (the Upper Midwest Flooding in mid-June across several states).
• 6 tornado outbreaks (across the central and southeastern USA).
• 5 hurricanes/tropical cyclones (Beryl, Debby, Francine, Helene, and Milton).
• 11 severe weather/hail events (across many parts of the country).

The weather/climate disasters that caused the most damage and inflicted punishment on many communities include:

• Hurricane Helene, September 24-29: 219 deaths, US$79.6 billion
• Hurricane Milton, October 9-10: 32 deaths, US$34.3 billion
• Hurricane Beryl, July 8: 46 deaths, US$7.2 billion
• Central, Southern & Southeast Tornado Outbreak, May 6-9: 3 deaths, US$6.6 billion

The upward trend of these weather/climate disasters over the years should be a warning of worse yet to come. Falling for the climate change-denial narrative of the fossil fuel industry, responsible for heating up our planet, will not whisk away these disasters.

The total cost of the US billion-dollar disasters over the last five years (2020-2024) is US$746.7 billion, with a 5-year average annual cost of US$149.3 billion. This 5-year average cost is more than double the 45-year (1980-2024) average annual cost of US$64.8 billion.

Since 1980, our nation has been hit by 403 weather/climate disasters where damages/costs reached or exceeded US$1 billion (including CPI adjustment to 2024). The total cost of these 403 events exceeds US$2.915 trillion. For how long can our communities and states sustain such tremendous economic loss without collapse?

According to the NCEI/NOAA analysis, there are several potential explanations for this upward trend:

• Increases in exposure: more assets at risk;
• Increases in vulnerability: the amount of damage a hazard of given intensity, such as high winds, can cause at a location; and
• Increases in the frequency and intensity of some types of extreme events due to human-caused climate change.

Where we choose to live also drives up the cost of these extreme weather events. With increased housing demand, property development has continued in high-risk areas like coasts, the fire-prone wildland-urban interface in the West, and river floodplains. For example, current estimates of property and capital losses from the Los Angeles County wildfires in January 2025 fall between US$95 billion and US$164 billion. For how long can we continue to live in high-risk areas?

Bear in mind that NCEI’s data does not include events costing less than US$1 billion. Events that also inflict pain on communities across the nation. The NCEI is currently considering the suggestion from the American Meteorological Society to incorporate smaller cost thresholds into their analysis. In adding hundreds of events costing less than US$1 billion down to US$100 million, the NCEI would give us a much better picture of the frequency and cost distribution of these hazards to our lives and economies, local and national.

On Thursday, February 27, the DOGE* team struck NOAA with Musk’s chainsaw. Who will grab the best cuts for monetization? With the proposed dismantling of NOAA, I fear for our safety and our livelihoods in the face of more frequent extreme weather/climate disasters. Sometimes, we don’t know the good we enjoy until we lose it.

* DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency