Billion-dollar disaster database gets new life with Climate Central
FILE: The U.S. has already endured 11 weather and climate disasters, according to NOAA. Some reports say that FEMA could run out of funding by August, in the height of hurricane season. FOX Business Contributor Scott Martin looks in to if FEMA can afford another record year of billion dollar disasters.
A climate nonprofit has taken up the helm of NOAA‘s recently retired Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, tracking the most expensive and devastating weather and climate disasters.
Climate Central revealed the return of the Billion-Dollar Disaster research analysis and website just five months after NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) announced its plans to shut down the database of billion-dollar disasters, citing “evolving priorities, statutory mandates and staffing changes.”
Every year, NCEI released its billion-dollar disaster report, which included historic numbers of weather and climate disasters in 2023 and 2024. The database dates back to 1980, including 403 billion-dollar disasters, resulting in nearly 17,000 deaths and damage totaling more than $2.9 trillion.
24 BILLION-DOLLAR DISASTERS STRUCK US SO FAR THIS YEAR; RANKS AS SECOND MOST ON RECORD
“Climate Central is committed to keeping this critical dataset accessible, timely, and transparent, and will continue to update the analysis to monitor the growing risk of weather and climate-related disasters,” the New Jersey-based nonprofit said.
Research analysis for the billion-dollar disaster database will continue under experienced leadership. Climate Central said Adam Smith, formerly the lead scientist for NOAA’s U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters program, will head the analysis of the relaunched database.
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Torrance Firefighters are seen gearing up to fight the Palisades Fire, as residents try to escape the site in Pacific Palisades, California, Los Angeles, United States on January 8, 2025.
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Emergency vehicles are on the side of the road as flames from the Hughes Fire race up the hill in Castaic, a northwestern neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 22, 2025.
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Police take security measures at the street during Eaton wildfire in Altadena of Los Angeles County, California, United States on January 9, 2025.
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CASTAIC, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 22: The Hughes Fire burns north of Los Angeles on January 22, 2025 near Castaic, California.
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CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES – JANUARY 8: Pacific Palisades residents seen walking through a shopping plaza after escaping the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, Los Angeles, United States on January 8, 2025. A fast-moving wildfire has forced 30,000 people to evacuate, with officials warning that worsening winds could further escalate the blaze. (Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Torrance Firefighters are seen gearing up to fight the Palisades Fire, as residents try to escape the site in Pacific Palisades, California, Los Angeles, United States on January 8, 2025.
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Marcy Harbut and her 12-year-old daughter at what’s left of their home after the Eaton Fire in January 2025.
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Harbut-Singh family sees what’s left of their home after the Eaton Fire in January 2025.
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ALTADENA CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 12: A sign reading ‘Looters will be shot’ stands in a mandatory evacuation zone at the Eaton Fire on January 12, 2025 in Altadena, California. The death toll from the Eaton Fire rose to 16 today as search and rescue teams go through the ruins of thousands of homes. More than 7,000 structures, mostly homes, were damaged or destroyed as a powerful Santa Ana wind event pushed flames farther into the city than even many fire experts expected. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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Members of the National Guard block entrances along New York Drive in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, US, on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
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A plane drops fire retardant during the Eaton Fire near Altadena, California, US, on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. Southern California faces another round of dangerous fire weather set to begin Monday night, even as crews struggle to contain wind-driven blazes that have paralyzed Los Angeles for nearly a week and killed at least 24 people. Photographer: Benjamin Fanjoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Firefighters battle the Eaton Fire in strong winds as many homes burn on January 7, 2025 in Pasadena, California.
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A person turns on a garden hose in an effort to save a neighboring home from catching fire during the Eaton Fire on January 8, 2025 in Altadena, California.
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Deadly and devastating climate and weather disasters continue to unfold at an alarming rate.
“This data has been used for decades to inform the public, conduct research, insure homes and businesses at risk, and prepare communities and increase their resilience,” Climate Central experts wrote after NOAA’s announcement in May.
According to Climate Central, the average number of billion-dollar disasters per year has grown from about three events per year in the 1980s to nearly 20 events per year in the last decade.
According to Climate Central, since the original NOAA database has been offline, 14 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters have unfolded across the U.S., totaling $101.4 billion in damage.
The Los Angeles wildfires are the costliest event so far, with damage topping $60 billion. The fires are the costliest wildfires in the U.S. on record, nearly doubling the previous record. NOAA’s retirement of the nearly 50-year database happened just two months before deadly flash flooding in Texas Hill Country claimed at least 120 lives.
Search and rescue workers dig through debris looking for any survivors or remains of people swept up in the flash flooding on July 6, 2025 in Hunt, Texas. Heavy rainfall caused flooding along the Guadalupe River in central Texas with multiple fatalities reported.
(Jim Vondruska/Getty Images / Getty Images)
BEFORE-AND-AFTER PHOTOS OF CAMP MYSTIC, KERR COUNTY SHOW DEVASTATION 1 WEEK AFTER DEADLY FLOODS
Devastating spring severe weather, including tornadoes, also contributed to the busy first half of 2025.
Climate Central said the first half of 2025 is well above the inflation-adjusted annual average of nine weather events over the past 46 years.
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