LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The United States experienced a record number of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2020, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).Â
The total cost of the 22 separate disasters was $95 billion, CNN said in a report Friday. Making up this costly list are a record-setting seven tropical cyclone events and 13 severe storm events, along with a drought and a wildfire event.
"This is the sixth year in a row that the US has experienced 10 or more separate billion-dollar disasters," NOAA climatologist Adam Smith told CNN.
Ten disasters has become the more recent standard of what to expect in a year, he added.
"To more than double (the number of events) at 22 and then have six more than the previous record is pretty extreme," Smith said.
Hurricane Laura was the most expensive, racking up $19 billion in damages. The historic Western wildfires in California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado followed at $16.5 billion.
The cost of disasters is estimated using data from insured and uninsured losses and covers the private and public sectors.
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