The planet was besieged by 58 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2024, ranking second-highest behind only 2023, which had 73, said insurance broker Gallagher Re in its annual report issued January 17. The total damage wrought by weather disasters in 2024 was $402 billion, 20% higher than the 10-year inflation-adjusted average. (Gallagher Re’s historical database extends back to 1990.) A separate report issued January 18 by insurance broker Aon put the total damage wrought by weather disasters in 2024 at $348 billion, with 53 billion-dollar weather disasters.
Increasing numbers of billion-dollar disasters primarily driven by increases in wealth and population
Gallagher Re said that 2024 had the highest-ever number of insured billion-dollar weather disasters: 21, beating the record of 17 set in 2023 and 2020; over 40% of the insured damage was from severe thunderstorms. There has been a steep rise in the number of billion-dollar weather disasters in recent years, and most of this has been driven by increases in severe thunderstorm losses in the United States.
About 80-90% of the increase in damage resulted from factors other than climate change. This point was echoed by insurance broker Aon in a 2023 report, which found that over 80% of severe thunderstorm loss growth could be explained by factors unrelated to climate change. (Hail damage, in particular, is getting a boost from rapid growth in Texas and other Sun Belt states.) However, Gallagher Re warned that climate change amplification of weather events was leading to “weather whiplash,” with rapid shifts from one peril to another.
U.S. sees its second-highest number of billion-dollar weather disasters: 27
As discussed in our January 10 post, the inflation-adjusted tally of U.S. billion-dollar weather disasters in 2024 was 27, falling just short of the record of 28 set in 2023. The total cost of 2024’s billion-dollar weather disasters, $182.7 billion, was the fourth-highest on record in the NOAA database. The billion-dollar disasters of 2024 included 17 severe storm events, five hurricanes, one wildfire, one drought, one flood, and two winter storms. The average number of billion-dollar disasters for a full year for the most recent five years (2020–2024) is 23. Using different accounting methods, Gallagher Re tallied 33 U.S. billion-dollar weather disasters for 2024.
Cat clinging to a car for its life gets saved by rescue workers during Hurricane Helene flooding. pic.twitter.com/1oH8P4V7d5
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) October 13, 2024
Three top-20 costliest weather disasters in world history in 2024: Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, and flooding in China
The year’s most destructive weather event of 2024 was Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region September 26 as a Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds. As documented by Michael Lowry, at least 243 people lost their lives in Helene across seven states, making it the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina killed an estimated 1,392 people in 2005. Flood damage from the hurricane was catastrophic in western North Carolina, and the $79 billion price tag makes it the seventh-most expensive weather disaster in world history, adjusted for inflation.
The second costliest weather disaster of 2024 was another U.S. hurricane, Category 3 Milton, which made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, and cost $34 billion. Seventeen of the top 20 most expensive weather disasters in world history are U.S. events, with two of these occurring in 2024.
Researchers at the Imperial College of London separately determined that climate change increased Helene’s wind speeds at landfall by about 13 mph or 11%, and Milton’s by almost 11 mph or 10%. Using a previously published damage function and data on the exposed value of global assets, the researchers determined that 44% of the economic damages caused by Helene and 45% of those caused by Milton could be attributed to climate change. They added that the analysis “likely underestimates the true cost of the hurricanes because it does not capture long-lasting economic impacts such as lost productivity and worsened health outcomes.”
China suffered $31 billion in damages from summer flooding during 2024. This was Earth’s third-costliest weather disaster of 2024 and is tied with the summer 2021 floods as China’s second-costliest weather disaster on record. Their costliest weather disaster occurred in 1998 when river flooding killed 3,556 and caused $57 billion in damage. This disaster ranks as the costliest weather-related disaster in world history to occur outside of the U.S.
The radar in #Haikou is centered in the eye of powerful #TyphoonYagi… and thankfully it’s still up & running (so far)!! 🤞 pic.twitter.com/kcGhE6XgSx
— Brian McNoldy (@BMcNoldy) September 6, 2024
Fourth-most expensive typhoon on record: Yagi, $16.8 billion in damages
After peaking as a Category 5 super typhoon with 160 mph winds, Typhoon Yagi made a devastating landfall on China’s Hainan Island as a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds on September 6, 2024, causing over $11 billion in damage in China. Yagi made a subsequent landfall on September 7 in Vietnam as a Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds, making it that nation’s strongest typhoon since modern records began in 1945. Yagi caused $3.3 billion in damage in Vietnam – the country’s costliest typhoon on record. Overall, Yagi’s $16.8 billion in damage made it the world’s fourth-costliest typhoon on record (using statistics from EM-DAT, inflation-adjusted to 2024 dollars). Here is their top-10 list of most expensive typhoons:
1) $25 billion, Doksuri, 2023 (China)
2) $22 billion, Mireille, 1991 (Japan)
3) $20 billion, Hagibis, 2019 (Japan)
4) $17 billion, Yagi, 2024 (China, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, India)
5) $15 billion, Jebi, 2018 (Japan)
5) $15 billion, Songda, 2004 (Japan)
7) $12 billion, Lekima, 2019 (China)
8) $11 billion, Faxai, 2019 (Japan)
9) $9 billion, Fitow, 2013 (China)
9) $9 billion, Flo, 1990 (Japan)
9) $9 billion, Bart, 1999 (Japan)
This list leaves out what was possibly the most destructive typhoon of all time, Typhoon Nina of 1975. Nina stalled out and dumped prodigious rains for two days in the Ru River drainage basin upstream of the Banqiao Dam, leading to the dam’s collapse and the loss of 171,000 lives, with an area 34 miles long and eight miles wide wiped out. The disaster was not disclosed by China until the mid-1990s. The list above also does not include the $12 billion flood disaster in southern
