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The Most Expensive Natural Disasters In the US

Image By Fallschirmjäger  ✉ [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Did you ever wonder what the most expensive natural disasters in the US are? 
From winter storms, tornadoes and hurricanes to hail winter can be costly in lives and dollars, and in summer we have droughts, wildfires and haboobs (always wanted to use that phenomenon in a sentence) but which type of natural disaster is the costliest for our nation? 
Annual statistics from the National Weather Service are published annually and are often available to the public around May. The most recent report dated May 20, 2014 for the Summary of Natural Hazard Statisticsfor 2013 in the United States details categories such as fatalities, injuries and property damage as well as a separate category for crop damage. 
Every type  of weather “event” you could imagine is accounted for on this list which utilizes raw data that was compiled and analyzed from offices in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands.

In order from least damaging in dollars (including deaths), here are the Ten Most Expensive Natural Disasters in the US for the year (2013):

                             
Image By Winchell Joshua, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

10.           Weather Event: High Wind
                Fatalities: 19 Injuries: 15
                Property Damage: $77.8+ million
                Total Damage: $82+ million 
           
                *2012 Total Damages: $4,067 million
Image By Dajohnson6000 “David Johnson” (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

9.            Weather Event: Extreme Temperature-Cold
                Fatalities: 24 Injuries: 2
                Property Damage: $159+ million
                Total Damage: $179+ million

                *2012 Total Damages: $237+million



 
 Image By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Image By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.


8.            Weather Event: Fire Weather
                Fatalities: 20 Injuries: 24
                Property Damage: $340 million
                Total Damage:$341+ million

                *2012 Total Damages: $1,464+ million





Image By Attercop311 (talk) (Uploads).Attercop311 at en.wikipedia [Public domain or Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons.

7.          Weather Event: Winter Storm
              Fatalities: 21 Injuries: 50
              Property Damage: $345million
   Total Damage: $345+ million

     *2012 Total Damages: $198+ million
                

Image By Rosendahl [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.


6.            Weather Event: Thunderstorm Wind
                Fatalities: 17 Injuries: 121
                Property Damage: $626+ million
                Total Damage: $677.4 million

                *2012 Total Damages: $322.4 million
                

Image By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

5.            Weather Event: Flash Flood
                Fatalities: 60 Injuries: 25
                Property Damage: $955+ million
                Total Damage: $978.43 million

               *2012 Total Damages: $376.75 million
                
                

Image By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

4.            Weather Event: River Flood
                Fatalities: 22 Injuries: 8
                Property Damage: $1,215+ million
                Total Damage: $1,265.11 million 

                *2012 Total Damages: $124 million


Image By Skatebiker at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons.


3.            Weather Event: Hail
                Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 54
                Property Damage: $2,414.4 million

                *2012 Total Damages: $2,508 million  


           
                
Image by National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Photo Library. Image ID: wea00206, Historic NWS Collection.

Image By NWS [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.


2.            Weather Event: Tornado
                Fatalities: 55 Injuries: 756
                Property Damage: $3,642+ million
                Total Damage: $3,648.74 million
                
               *2012 Total Damages: $1,650 million


Photo by Tim McCabe, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. (USDA NRCS Photo Gallery: NRCSAR83004.tif) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.


1.            Weather Event: Drought
                Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0
                Property Damage: $15.9 million
                Total Damages: $3,721+ million (mainly crop damages)

               *2012 Total Damages: $5,764.22 million

In the same report for the previous year (2012) the number one most expensive weather event was Coastal Storms. 
Image By Jon Sullivan [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Weather Event: Coastal Storm
Fatalities: 44 Injuries: 1
Property Damages: $21,605.5 million
Total Damage: $21,606+ million


Image By Jon Sullivan [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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