The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), which is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), recently published the final update to its “2023 Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters” report, highlighting a record-breaking year in the number of costly weather and climate disasters that impacted areas throughout the country.

In 2023, there were 28 weather and climate disasters, the most billion-dollar disasters ever, surpassing the previous record of 22 in 2020, with the disasters costing at least $92.9 billion in damages. Despite this high price, the total annual cost may rise by several billion when researchers have  fully accounted for the costs of the December 16-18 East Coast storm and flooding event that impacted states from Florida to Maine. According to the report, the billion-dollar disasters for 2023 included: one winter storm/cold wave event (across the northeast U.S. in early-February); one wildfire event (firestorm destroying town of Lahaina on Maui Island of Hawaii); one drought and heat wave event (focused across the central and southern U.S.); four flooding events (in California, Florida, and across the eastern and northeastern U.S.); two tornado outbreaks (across the central and eastern U.S.). Two tropical cyclones (Idalia in Florida and Typhoon Mawar in Guam); and 17 severe weather/hail events (across many parts of the country). In addition, disasters in 2023 caused at least 492 direct or indirect fatalities.

NOAA scientists contend the number and cost of weather and climate disasters are increasing in the U.S. “due to a combination of increased exposure (i.e., more assets at risk), vulnerability (i.e., how much damage a hazard of given intensity—wind speed, or flood depth, for example—causes at a location), and the fact that climate change is increasing the frequency of some types of extremes that lead to billion-dollar disasters.” Thus, with all these compounding hazard risks, critical infrastructure owners and operators as well as other stakeholders need to carefully consider how to strengthen, rebuild, and effectively invest in infrastructure to make it more resilient in a changing climate. Access the full report at NCEI here, read a blog post on the report, or read more at the Conversation.