The National Climatic Data Center recently released updated information on billion dollar climate and weather disasters that have occurred across the United States during the past 30 years (1980-2010). The southeastern quadrant of the United States, including the entire region comprising the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (OK, TX, AR, LA, TN, and MS), was found to experience the greatest number of billion dollar events during the period. Though tropical storms and hurricanes were found to be a major contributor to billion dollar disasters (accounting for 50.6% of total damages), SCIPP’s inland states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee were also highly impacted with 26 or more billion dollar disasters in each state over the 30 year period (note: a single billion dollar event could affect multiple states).
To see more information on billion dollar climate and weather disasters, please see the National Climatic Data Center’s website, which is linked in the image below.
