Eastern KY flooding makes list of 2022 US disasters that topped $1B or more in damage
Eighteen weather and climate-related disasters resulting in $1 billion in damage or more struck the U.S. in 2022, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. What’s more, July’s catastrophic flooding in Eastern Kentucky that killed 43 people was among them.
According to the analysis from NOAA, 2022 was defined by numerous severe weather events, including devastating hurricanes and deadly flooding across the country.
There was also record drought last year, which ranked as the fifth-warmest year on record, according to a separate report from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
In Kentucky, a devastating round of flooding in late July killed dozens of people, including four young siblings who were swept from their parents’ grip by the flood waters. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed by the deluge, displacing hundreds of people into travel trailers and other accommodations.
For its purposes, NOAA considers Kentucky’s flooding as part of a larger event that also affected Missouri, where two people were killed during rapid rainfall over two days.
2022’s $1-billion disasters
Here’s the complete list of disasters resulting in $1 billion in damage or more, from NOAA:
One winter storm/cold wave event across the central and eastern U.S.
One wildfire event across the western U.S., including Alaska
One drought and heat wave event across the western and central U.S.
One flooding event in Missouri and Kentucky
Two tornado outbreaks across the southern and southeastern U.S.
Three tropical cyclones: Fiona, Ian and Nicole
Nine severe weather/hail events across many parts of the country, including a derecho in the central U.S.
Damage from the disasters in 2022 totaled roughly $165 billion, NOAA reported. That’s an increase from 2021, when 22 severe weather and climate-related disasters resulted in roughly $155.3 billion in damages.
Hurricane Ian was the most financially costly event of 2022 at $112.9 billion, according to NOAA. The storm ranks as the third-most costly hurricane on record since 1980 for the U.S., behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
All told, the 18 weather and climate disasters killed 474 people across the country, according to NOAA.
Between 2022 and 2016, 122 separate disasters causing $1 billion or more in damage killed at least 5,000 people, with the total cost of damage reaching more than $1 trillion.
In five of the last six years, excluding 2019, the total price tag for severe weather events has hit at least $100 billion.
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This story was originally published January 11, 2023 at 12:36 PM.