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Most expensive year on record for US natural disasters
2017 will be remembered as a year of extremes for the U.S. as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, fires and freezes claimed hundreds of lives and visited economic hardship upon the nation. Recovery from the ravages of three major Atlantic hurricanes making landfall in the U.S. and an extreme and ongoing wildfire season in the West is expected to continue well into the new year.
The US experienced a record year of losses from fires, hurricanes and other weather related disasters in 2017, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Total losses amounted to $306bn the agency said, over $90bn more than the previous record set in 2005.
Last year saw 16 separate events with losses exceeding $1bn, including Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Noaa confirmed that 2017 was the third warmest year on record for the US.
Hurricane Harvey produced major flooding as a result of a storm surge and extreme rain. Nearly 800,000 people needed help. Researchers have already shown that climate change increased the likelihood of the observed rainfall by a factor of at least 3.5. Noaa says the total costs of the Harvey event were $125bn, which is second only to Hurricane Katrina in terms of costs over the 38 years the record has been maintained. Hurricane Irma was a Category 5 storm for the longest period on record. Rain gauges in Nederland, Texas, recorded 1,539mm, the largest ever recorded for a single event in the mainland US. Hurricanes Irma and Maria cost $50bn and $90bn respectively.
Most expensive year on record for US natural disasters
[Also Covered By]: U.S. Spent a Record $306 Billion on Natural Disasters in 2017
2017 most expensive year because of climate change
According to U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, drought, fires and freezes claimed hundreds of lives and visited economic hardship upon the United States in 2017. Price tag? 306 billion USD. The article has a cute little graph of the major (> 1 billion USD) disasters.
Drill baby drill? Business as usual?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday January 10 2018, @07:43PM
Let me tell you, Puerto Rico was a mess, it got very VERY MESSY there. A very dire situation. But I acted quickly. I suspended the Jones Act for 10 days -- at great cost to our terrific American shipping industry -- so foreign steamships could bring supplies. And I flew to Puerto Rico myself. I brought the paper towels they so desperately needed. And they cleaned up that terrible mess!
Benjamin Franklin said something very smart, he said a stitch in time saves 9. Andrew Jackson, our greatest president, he wasn't quick enough to stop the Civil War. Dubya, one of our worst presidents, he was very slow when Hurricane Katrina came. But I was quick. Like Speedy Gonzales. I kept the Puerto Rico situation from getting out of hand. And they're very grateful, not all of them but Governor Ricky and many people there are very grateful. Some are ungrateful, those are foolish people. They should be thanking me. Because they almost got Crooked Hillary. And believe me, she wouldn't lift a finger. You look at what she did in Haiti. She took in hundreds of millions of dollars for a hospital in Haiti that went to the Clinton Foundation, that was never built. That was years ago. Where is that money?