--- title: Major Climate Disasters Cost the U.S. $165 Billion in 2022 description: Last year was the nation’s third most expensive year for billion-dollar disasters according to NOAA, following 2017 and 2005. canonical: https://time.com/6246108/2022-billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-01-10T17:47:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:16:04.189Z article:section: Climate og:title: Major Climate Disasters Cost the U.S. $165 Billion in 2022 og:description: “Climate change is creating more and more intense, significant damage and often sets off cascading hazards" og:url: https://time.com/6246108/2022-billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7baebac5163469f5/698a395c0116828c31982a79/billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa-united-states-hurricane-ian-drought.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Hurricane Ian Slams Into West Coast Of Florida og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Major Climate Disasters Cost the U.S. $165 Billion in 2022 twitter:description: “Climate change is creating more and more intense, significant damage and often sets off cascading hazards" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7baebac5163469f5/698a395c0116828c31982a79/billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa-united-states-hurricane-ian-drought.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Major Climate Disasters Cost the U.S. $165 Billion in 2022 > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zahra Hirji / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Zahra Hirji / Bloomberg Contributor Jan 10, 2023 5:47 PM UTC  In this aerial view, flooded homes are shown after Hurricane Ian moved through the Gulf Coast of Florida on September 29, 2022 in Port Charlotte, Florida. In this aerial view, flooded homes are shown after Hurricane Ian moved through the Gulf Coast of Florida on September 29, 2022 in Port Charlotte, Florida. Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Zahra Hirji / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Zahra Hirji / Bloomberg Contributor Jan 10, 2023 5:47 PM UTC A massive hurricane, a historic drought, and 16 other major disasters across the US collectively racked up $165 billion in damages and killed at least 474 people in 2022, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) analysis published Tuesday. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information track the biggest of the big disasters, each one costing at least $1 billion in damage. 2022 was the nation’s third most expensive year for billion-dollar disasters by [NOAA’s ranking](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/), following 2017 ($373.2 billion) and 2005 ($253.5 billion). Billion-dollar disasters are the new normal in the US and the rest of the world. That’s because people continue to move and build in risky areas — and the risk itself increases as the planet gets warmer, wetter and more prone to extremes. Severe weather events and other disasters globally last year cost roughly $120 billion in insured losses and $270 billion in uninsured losses, according to estimates by insurance giant Munich Re. And all these disasters played out during the fifth-warmest year on record, estimates the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. In the US, the single most damaging event was [Hurricane Ian](https://time.com/6218075/hurricane-ian-climate-change-impact/), which caused $112.9 billion in damages. The storm was also the most expensive disaster for insured losses worldwide, according to Munich Re. Ian rapidly [intensified](https://time.com/6218869/why-atlantic-hurricanes-are-getting-stronger/) into a Category 4 hurricane that slammed into southwestern Florida with a lethal combination of storm surge, winds and rain. The result was a climate catastrophe: washed out roads and bridges, entire neighborhoods razed and power knocked out for millions. The loss of life was also staggering. At least 152 people died from the storm, according to NOAA’s count. Another major event was the year-long drought and heat wave across several Western and Southern Plain states that caused $22.2 billion in damage. One study published in the journal _Nature Climate Change_ estimated [this prolonged period of dryness](https://www.npr.org/2022/02/14/1080302434/study-finds-western-megadrought-is-the-worst-in-1-200-years), which started prior to 2022, was the region’s worst in more than 1,000 years. Consequently, major rivers and lakes have been dwindling to dangerously low levels and in some cases running dry, including Lakes Mead and Powell and the Colorado River. Millions of people rely on this water. The extreme heat tied to this dry spell killed more than 100 people across Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon and Texas. But the federal government’s estimates are likely an undercount. In Arizona’s Maricopa County alone, for example, local officials identified [378 confirmed heat-associated deaths](https://www.maricopa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5513) in 2022. NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad pointed to the role of climate change in disasters in a press conference on Tuesday. “[Climate change](https://time.com/section/climate/) is creating more and more intense, significant damage and often sets off cascading hazards, like intense drought followed by devastating wildfires, followed by dangerous flooding and mudslides,” he said, “as we’re seeing, for example, as a consequence of the atmospheric rivers in California right now.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6246108/2022-billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6246108/2022-billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa/"},"headline":"Major Climate Disasters Cost the U.S. $165 Billion in 2022","datePublished":"2023-01-10T17:47:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:16:04.189Z","description":"Last year was the nation’s third most expensive year for billion-dollar disasters according to NOAA, following 2017 and 2005.","url":"https://time.com/6246108/2022-billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa/","keywords":["extreme weather","climate change","wire","healthscienceclimate","bloomberg wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7baebac5163469f5/698a395c0116828c31982a79/billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa-united-states-hurricane-ian-drought.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zahra Hirji / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7baebac5163469f5/698a395c0116828c31982a79/billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa-united-states-hurricane-ian-drought.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hurricane Ian Slams Into West Coast Of Florida","caption":"Hurricane Ian Slams Into West Coast Of Florida","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/extreme-weather/","name":"extreme weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6246108/2022-billion-dollar-climate-disasters-noaa/","name":"Major Climate Disasters Cost the U.S. $165 Billion in 2022"}}]}] ```