NEW YORK — Damage from weather and climate disasters in 2022 could exceed $100 billion in the U.S. by the end of the year, according to estimations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
So far this year, 15 events -- including the recent Hurricanes Fiona and Ian -- have incurred damages of more than $1 billion, NOAAon Tuesday. It is the eighth consecutive year in which the U.S. has endured 10 or more billion-dollar disaster events.
More than 340 people have died in these events, but death tolls could rise as search and rescue crews continue to comb through battered portions of Southwest Florida and Puerto Rico. On Sept. 18, Fiona brought major flooding, damage and loss of life to Puerto Rico -- five years after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria.