Since 1980, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began keeping records, Florida has suffered the second most billion-dollar disasters in the United States, compared to other states.
According to NOAA, Florida has suffered 81 different billion-dollar disaster events since the organization began keeping these records in 1980, making the total costs over $380 billion.
Those events include 32 tropical cyclones, 26 severe storms, five freezes, four wildfires, seven droughts, two floodings and five winter storms.
In 2023, Florida was affected by five severe weather disasters and one hurricane (Hurricane Idalia), costing a billion dollars or more.
So far, 2023 has eclipsed the previously held record of 22 disasters costing over a billion dollars in 2020, even though there are still three and a half months left for the year.
There have been 253 “direct and indirect fatalities” resulting from 2023’s disasters.
It’s noteworthy that damages in California from Tropical Storm Hilary and the southern/midwestern brought are still under investigation and possibly exceed a billion dollars.
The United States has suffered costs exceeding $2.615 trillion from 371 separate weather and climate disasters since 1980.
According to this NOAA report, Texas was the number one state in billion-dollar disasters for 2023 with a price tag of over $400 billion.
Click here to read NOAA’s report.
Click here for a full report on billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that have hit Florida since 1980.
Click here to see the National Centers for Environmental Information Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters map.