How much have natural disasters cost NC over the years? About $100 billion, per study
A recent study shows North Carolina is among the states most impacted by natural disasters.
According to a WalletHub report, the state ranks No. 8 nationally in damages from natural disasters since 1980.
To determine the states most impacted by climate disasters, the personal finance site weighed the number of disasters that caused more than $1 billion in damage and the loss amount from those events.
Since 1980, 100 billion-dollar disaster events have affected North Carolina as a result of 40 severe storms and 27 tropical cyclones, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane that first made landfall in Texas in 2017 before shifting east, caused nearly $150 billion in damages. It was the costliest disaster to hit North Carolina in the last 40 years.
Data from the NCEI show that the next three most expensive disasters – Hurricanes Sandy, Ida and Irma – all happened within the last decade, causing a combined $220 billion in damages.
A 1980 heat wave in the central and eastern regions of the U.S. that lasted for six months caused damage to agriculture and resulted in $37.7 billion in damages in North Carolina, making it the fifth-most expensive disaster, according to the NCEI.
Hurricane Ian, the most recent storm to hit the East Coast, may have caused up to $70 billion in losses in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, Forbes reported.
Mississippi was ranked No. 1 on the report, followed by Louisiana, Texas, Iowa and Alabama.
