), Jeff Masters, Ph.D., worked as a hurricane scientist with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters from 1986-1990. By comparing the Aon Benfield numbers to historical disaster costs at EM-DAT, we see that Honduras was the only nation in 2020 that set a record for all-time most expensive weather-related disaster. Moving very slowly at landfall, Eta lingered for three days over Central America and the adjacent waters, dropping catastrophic amounts of rainfall in excess of 20 inches in some regions. The cyclone triggered evacuations of 4.2 million people and destroyed or damaged 2.8 million homes in India and 225,000 in Bangladesh. A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Tuesday about 80 miles from Jamaica, shaking people in the Caribbean and as far away as Miami. Statista. Machel Emanuel, a doctor in the same city, added: "I was on the second floor of a building and there was a sustained shaking of the building. Severe weather, U.S.: A severe weather outbreak July 10-12 in the Rockies, Midwest, Plains, and southeastern U.S did $1.3 billion in damage. Severe weather, Texas, southeastern U.S., May 27-28, $1.5 billion, zero killed;35. The first Concepcin earthquake struck at 06:02 on 21st May 1960. Your work is greatly appreciated. World Meteorological Organization Assessment of the Purported World Record 58C Temperature Extreme at El Azizia, Libya (13 September 1922) "We heard the noise of everything moving around.". Severe weather, Plains, Midwest, and southeastern U.S., May 4-5, $1.5 billion, zero killed;34. In 1794, as the mother ship H.M.S. (26.12.2019). Thank you for the well written and sobering message! The epicenter was located off the coast of the Calatagan Peninsula in the province of Batangas, some 100 kilometers southwest of the capital city of Manila. Infrastructure across the country has been badly damaged or demolished, including churches, schools, and offices. USGS geologist Ryan Gold told the Miami Herald it was "completely reasonable" for a quake of that magnitude to be felt in Florida. The hardest-hit states were Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Indiana. Severe weather, U.S.: A severe weather outbreak on March 2-5 in the U.S. featured an EF3 tornado that ravaged Nashville, Tennessee and an EF4 tornado east of Nashville. The cost of the earthquakes were $15.8 billion. Carlos Joaqun Gonzlez told AP. Severe weather, Australia, Feb. 2-11, $1.2 billion, zero killed;45. Together, these events killed 262 people and cost over $95 billion. A magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck the island of Luzon, Philippines, at 4:47 a.m. local time on Saturday, July 24 (data from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, or PHIVOLCS). Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. (See all EOTS posts here. Why not? (28.01.2020), In 2004, a day after Christmas, a powerful earthquake triggered a giant tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries. Point being, that the biggest disaster are the annual lives lost from severe weather events, in any nation/region, but we end up monetizing these disasters because of the property/material/crop losses. There is no way these two earthquake sequences are . 27-30, $2.9 billion, zero killed;23. Hurricane Eta, Central America and southeastern U.S.: The deadliest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2020 was Hurricane Eta, which made landfall in northern Nicaragua on November 3 as a category 4 storm with 140 mph winds. Thank you for the work of writing this excellent report, Dr. Masters. It is for Skyepony to try to explain to me what climate change & CO had to do with the loss of the ice in Glacier Bay. Five other earthquakes of M 6 or larger have occurred within 248 miles (400 km) of the January 28, 2020, event over the past half-century. The quake hit between Jamaica, the Cayman. Costly thunderstorms, hurricanes, wildfires, and devastating monsoon rains besieged the planet last year. Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of theday's hard news and quality feature journalism. At the end of the day, whether as to global lives lost, or monetary losses, we are subject to constant natural disasters living on the Planet; it comes with the terirtory unfortunately. This was equivalent to about 116 billion. This is equivalent to 9.6% of GDP (with confidence intervals ranging from 5.9% of GDP to 15.5% of GDP). Whoops! Buildings shook and tremors were felt across the Caribbean, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. Seismologist Dr Lucy Jones tweeted: "The M7.7 Jamaican quake produced sideways motion on the fault, so the tsunami risk is low. The most expensive disaster of 2020 was the summer monsoon flooding in China, which caused $35 billion in damage. Dollars). Costliest natural disasters based on estimated overall losses in the Caribbean between 2000 and 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars) [Graph]. In July 2019, a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck a sparsely populated region in Southern California. A few places on earth doesnt fit the description of the climate. The Associated Press reports that the quake was felt strongly in the Cuban city of Santiago. Mitch arguably was more devastating than Eta, though: When Mitch struck, the GDP of Honduras was less than half its current inflation-adjusted size, so the hurricane wiped out a larger share of the nations economy than Eta did. I never see past or present climate disasters adjusted for inflation. thats a diqus flaw. It is incredible that deaths were so low. Annual flood losses increased to $25.3 billion annually during the period 2006-2018. Official websites use .gov My wunderment is how the public SEEMINGLY subconsciously eats up the comment of certain politicos when they warn of how dangerous it is for OUR economy to print 1 Billion dollars to help fellow humans going through a mega crisis (covid relief). Severe weather, Rockies, Midwest, Plains, southeastern U.S., Jul. From 2010 to 2019, there were 119 climate and weather events that cost $1 billion or . Over the weekend, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the island nation of Haiti, killing more than 2,100 people, destroying at least 7,000 homes, and leaving 30,000 families homeless. On May 22, 1960, the most powerful earthquake in recorded history magnitude coast. Winter weather, China: A massive snowstorm dumped over two feet of snow in northeastern China on April 19-25, causing damages of $1.2 billion. Alex brought the wettest day for UK-wide rainfall on record on October 3, when the nation had an average of 31.7 mm (1.24 inches) of rain. The catastrophic 8.8 quake that hit central Chile in 2010 killed more than 500 people and was estimated to have cost upwards of $30 billion. Haishen killed four and caused $4 billion in damage. On January 28, 2020, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea, roughly equidistant from the coasts of Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman Islands. Iota brought torrential rains that inundated flooded regions still struggling to recover from Eta, killing 102 people and causing $1.3 billion in damage. The agricultural losses vaulted the estimated damage cost from the derecho to $7.5 billion, NOAA said. Read about our approach to external linking. The 32 people killed by tornadoes during the outbreak made it the deadliest tornado outbreak since April 27-30, 2014. Despite the large size of the earthquake, the fact that it occurred offshore and away from high population areas lessened its societal impact. Flooding, France and Italy, Oct. 2-4, $3.2 billion, 16 killed;18. Earth was besieged by a record 50 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2020, the most such disasters ever recorded after adjusting for inflation, said insurance broker Aon (formerly called Aon Benfield) in its annual report issued January 25. It also began showing signs of increased activity at the end of 2020. Yet are the same politicians that bend backwards for lobbyist groups/ blood money companies that will add BILLIONS per month to yearly disasters by continuing to feed aGW and spew more pollutants around our true home. 2023 BBC. The drought contributed to record wildfires in the Pantanal rainforest the worlds largest tropical wetland. At least 38 people were killed, and damage was estimated at $3.6 billion. At the location of this event, the North America plate converges with the Caribbean plate at a rate of about 20 mm/yr towards the west-southwest. Ive seen your yearly disaster summaries along with Bob Hensons and others over the last few years, but this record-breaking year boggles the mind and saddens the heart. Insured damage from wildfires in 2020 was $12 billion the third highest on record, behind only 2017 and 2018. U.S. drought damages in 2020 were estimated at $4.5 billion. The quake hit between Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the US Geological Survey (USGS) said on Tuesday. 1. If you are an admin, please authenticate by logging in again. Some offices were temporarily evacuated in Miami and parts of Jamaica. Here are 2020s 50 billion-dollar weather disasters, as tabulated by Aon: 1. The fire burned over 86,000 acres in the region just south of the San Francisco Bay area, killing one person and causing $3.5 billion in damage, making it the eighth most expensive wildfire in world history. Flood damage was most severe on Kyushu Island. Sign up for our newsletters and never miss a story. post something like help, wait for a reply and then refresh. Image via USGS. The record number of U.S. disasters in 2020 led to the American Red Crosss providing record levels of disaster sheltering in 2020, according to a December 2 article by E&E News. After hitting the Philippines, Vamco made landfall in Vietnam, where it killed one person and damaged or destroyed 10,000 homes. Sign up to receive notices of new postings here. What's he waiting for? The door was slamming consistently for a while.". Summer monsoon flooding in Pakistan: The June 1-September 30 monsoon rains severely affected Pakistan, killing 410 and causing $1.5 billion in damage. Severe weather, Plains, Midwest, and southeastern U.S., May 16-21, $2.1 billion, one killed;27. Wildfire (Beachie Creek Fire), Oregon (U.S.), Aug. 16-Oct. 5, $1.7 billion, four killed;30. These are by far the highest totals on record in both databases, with the previous record, set in 2017, being 20 in Aons database and 17 in NOAAs. Vamco killed 102 people in the Philippines, damaged or destroyed 190,000 homes, and caused $1 billion in damage. Warnings by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) were later withdrawn. The January 7, 2020, 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Puerto Rico was centered south of the island. Severe weather (derecho), Midwest U.S., Aug. 8-12, $12.6 billion, four killed;5. It was the fourth-largest fire in California history. However, Eta was followed by another devastating hit from Hurricane Iota, which did much of its $1.3 billion in damage to Honduras. "The tsunami threat has now largely passed," theITCsaid. The previous record was 46 billion-dollar weather disasters, set in 2010 and 2011. Hurricane Delta, Plains and southeastern U.S., Oct. 7-11, $3 billion, 4 killed;19. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. Updated 6:43 a.m. In the Cayman Islands, video showed damaged streets and sinkholes opened up by the violent shaking. A tsunami followed, fires broke out and many were left without power. Flooding, India: Heavy rains due to an unusually extended monsoon season, combined with rains from multiple low-pressure systems, severely affected the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Maharashtra October 1-26, killing 152 people and causing $4 billion in damage. ET. Typically, a M 6.4 event (the largest in the Puerto Rico sequence) will only influence activity within a few tens of kilometers or miles around itself. About a quarter of the Pantanal burned in 2020 (11 million acres), surpassing the previous record set in 2005. Glass Fire, California (U.S.): Californias Glass Fire on September 27-October 5 burned over 67,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties, causing $3.8 billion in damage, making it the seventh most expensive wildfire in world history. As Victoria recovers from one of the largest earthquakes in the region since European settlement, business owners are counting the damage, which initially appears to be far less than other natural disaster events this year. Hurricane Michael (Aug 2018): United States and Cuba. The 2019 monsoon season produced 110% of average rainfall; together, 2019 and 2020 are Indias wettest two-year period since the 1950s. Damaging winds hit the Houston metro area, with a gust of 65 mph reported in Harris County. Laura was Earths most expensive tropical cyclone of 2020, with $18.2 billion in damage. The 410 deaths made this the second highest death toll of any weather disaster of 2020. Hurricane Zeta, southeastern U.S., Oct. 24-30, $3.5 billion, 6 killed;16. At least 16 people were killed, and damage was estimated at $3.2 billion. It was the third-largest fire in Oregon history. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The San Fernando Veterans . Remarkably, wildfire has caused more than $70 billion in insured losses since 2000, 75% of that in the past five years alone. Ebisu Circuit: an intriguing landslide caused by the 2021 Fukushima Earthquake. Zeta was the strongest hurricane to make a U.S. landfall so late in the year since an October 31, 1899, hurricane (also a category 2 storm with 110 mph winds) hit Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Catastrophe Earthquake strikes the Caribbean 01/28/2020 The epicenter was located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica, prompting initial fears of a tsunami, though those concerns have. Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 50 countries and over 1 million facts: Get quick analyses with our professional research service. Flooding, Japan: Record-breaking rainfall triggered widespread flash flooding and landslides across southern Japan from July 3-15, killing at least 82 people and injuring 114. If the list werent based solely on dollar estimate of damage, a runner-up would surely be the Creek Fire, which was active from Sept. 4 through Dec. 24. It is unlikely the Cayman Islands will be impacted by a damaging tsunami. It put the fear of God into many people today," he said. Typhoon Vamco, Philippines, Vietnam, Nov. 11-16, $1 billion, 103 killed;49. But in an update at around 20:45 GMT, the PTWC said the "tsunami threat had now largely passed". Hey the years 2045 and 2046 were nothing but struggles for the global population, filled with disasters upon disasters the human race could not quit, or they would be left for dead. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. Severe weather, U.S.: A severe weather outbreak on April 27-30 in the Midwest, Plains, and southeastern U.S did $1.1 billion in damage. 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