hurricane – Page 4 – Desdemona Despair

Map showing global climate risk as an Aggregated Damage Ratio, projected to the year 2050. Graphic: XDI

February 28, 2023

Florida’s projected sea level rise by 2100 is bad news for sunshine state – Outside of China, Florida is the most at-risk state/province in the world for economic damage caused by climate change

By Pandora Dewan 24 February 2023 (Newsweek) – By 2100, Florida could see sea levels rise by up to 6 feet, with over 900,000 properties at risk of being underwater. “By 2050, Florida sea levels, like much of the US, are headed for a 1-foot rise on average (above 2020 levels),” William Sweet, an Oceanographer for the […]

Map showing natural catastrophe loss events in 2022. Natural catastrophes caused overall losses of US$270 billion worldwide. Data: Munich Re, NatCatSERVICE, 2023. Graphic: Munich Re

January 31, 2023

Munich Re: Climate change and La Niña driving losses – “Climate change is taking an increasing toll. The natural disaster figures for 2022 are dominated by events that, according to the latest research findings, are more intense or are occurring more frequently.”

10 January 2023 (Munich Re) – With overall losses of around US$ 270bn (previous year US$ 320bn) and insured losses of roughly US$ 120bn (previous year US$ 120bn), 2022 joins the recent run of years with high losses. Overall losses were close to the average for the last five years, while insured losses were significantly […]

Map showing significant economic loss events in 2022. Direct economic losses resulting from natural disasters in 2022 are estimated at $313 billion. This is close to the 21st century average, after adjusting actual incurred damage to today’s dollars using the U.S. Consumer Price Index. Though 2022 was far from record-breaking in terms of overall losses, it saw many impactful and costly events across the globe. Visualizing the geographic distribution of 2022 events allows for distinguishing certain patterns, including higher frequency of medium-sized Severe Convective Storm (SCS) events in the U.S. and Europe, and the prevalence of flooding events in Africa, Southeast Asia and Oceania. The map primarily shows the economic impact, which to some extent correlates with concentration of wealth — this is not a result of a reporting bias. What this map does not highlight is the humanitarian crises and displaced communities, as many events with significant human impacts do not necessarily translate into a high financial toll in terms of direct damage. Note that significant price inflation throughout the year already resulted in notable increases of per-event losses. Graphic: Aon

January 25, 2023

Aon: Global insured losses from natural disasters exceeded $130 billion In 2022, driven by second-costliest event on record – More than 19,000 heat-related deaths in Europe

CHICAGO, 25 January 2023 (PRNewswire) – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today published its 2023 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Insight report, which identifies global natural disaster and climate trends to help make better decisions to manage volatility and enhance global resilience. The report reveals that natural disasters caused a $313 billion global economic loss […]

U.S. billion-dollar climate disaster events, 1980-2022. Storms, floods, wildfires and droughts caused a total of $165 billion in damages in the US last year, $10 billion more than the 2021 total and the third most costly year since records of major losses began in 1980, according to new US government data. With 18 disasters costing at least $1 billion in damages, 2022 was only marginally behind 2020 and 2021 in terms of the number of severe events. A total of 474 people died last year from these major calamities. Graphic: NCEI / NOAA

January 10, 2023

Extreme weather left 474 people dead and cost $165 billion in the U.S. in 2022 – “It does not seem likely that these trends will reverse. Perhaps we need to be more prepared for a future that has rapidly become our present.”

By Oliver Milman 10 January 2023 (The Guardian) – The US endured a particularly painful year as communities wrestled with the growing impacts of the climate crisis, with 18 major disasters wreaking havoc across the country as planet-heating emissions continued to climb. Storms, floods, wildfires and droughts caused a total of $165 billion in damages […]

Aerial view of apparent red tide and other phytoplankton species in the water near Naples and Sanibel, Florida on 13 November 2022. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, beaches from Sarasota to Port Charlotte varied between low, medium, and high levels of red tide. Because Hurricane Ian brought so much rain to Florida in October, scientists on the coast closely monitored water quality to see if the storm had any impacts. Photo: Ralph Arwood / Calusa Waterkeeper

November 20, 2022

Photos show toxic algae blooms plaguing southwest Florida waters – Runoff from Hurricane Ian suspected

By Dylan Abad 14 November 2022 TAMPA, Florida (WFLA) – Aerial photos revealed massive plumes of red tide stretching along much of southwest Florida’s coast days after Tropical Storm Nicole passed over the state. Photos released by Calusa Waterkeeper showed a deep reddish-brown discoloration of the water near Naples and Sanibel due to the presence […]

Rows of crosses sit at the mass grave site at the Holy Cross Memorial Garden for victims of super Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, central Philippines on Sunday, 23 October 2022. About 40 percent of the population of Tacloban was relocated to safer areas after super Typhoon Haiyan wiped out most of the villages, killing thousands when it hit central Philippines in 2013. Photo: Aaron Favila / AP Photo

November 19, 2022

Climate migration: Filipino families flee amid typhoons – “The warming of the ocean fuels more powerful tropical storms, and rising sea levels increase the impacts”

By Michael Casey, Joeal Calupitan, and Aaron Favila 17 November 2022 TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) – After Typhoon Haiyan’s towering waves flattened scores of Philippines villages, Jeremy Garing spent days helping with recovery from the historic storm that left more than 7,300 people dead or missing and inflicted billions of dollars in damage. “I keep helping […]

Waves lap the eroded beach below the half-collapsed homes of Nina Lavigna, at left, and her neighbor, after Hurricane Nicole swept away sand from the beach and from under foundations, Saturday, 12 November 2022, in Wilbur-By-The-Sea, Fla. Photo: Rebecca Blackwell / AP Photo

November 14, 2022

Florida county puts damage from Hurricane Nicole at $481 million – “The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented”

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Florida, 14 November 2022 (AP) – Damages are estimated at more than $481 million in a central Florida coastal county where homes collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean following Hurricane Nicole last week. The damages from the category 1 storm in Volusia County, home to Daytona Beach, exceeded those from the much stronger Hurricane Ian, […]

People walk on a street affected by the passing of Hurricane Fiona in Penuelas, Puerto Rico, 19 September 2022. Ricardo Arduengo / REUTERS

October 22, 2022

Five years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s power grid is still costly and unreliable – Puerto Rico struggles to recover after Hurricane Fiona razed crops

By Fred Imbert 22 October 2022 (CNBC) – When Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico in September, Felipe Pérez was ready. Pérez, the owner of local sandwich shop chain El Meson, equipped his stand-alone locations with power generators and water tanks in the event of a prolonged outage like the one after Hurricane Maria, the devastating […]

A darkened street in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan on Friday, 23 September 2022. People in Puerto Rico fear an extended blackout after Hurricane Fiona struck. Photo: Erika P. Rodriguez / The New York Times

September 25, 2022

Puerto Ricans fear extended blackout after Hurricane Fiona – Crops ravaged near peak harvest, Puerto Rico farmers say

By Laura N. Pérez Sánchez 24 September 2022 SAN JUAN, P.R. (The New York Times) – Michelle Rivera trudged slowly up the stairs of her apartment building, stopping to collect her breath and regain the strength to carry one more gallon of water to her home on the eighth floor. It was Friday, the sixth […]

Two men walk through rushing water on Front Street in Nome, Alaska, just a half block from the Bering Sea, on 17 September 2022. Photo: Peggy Fagerstrom / AP

September 18, 2022

Western Alaska confronts damage after historic storm – “Boats are going to be scattered all over the tundra”

By Taylor Telford 18 September 2022 (The Washington Post) – Floodwaters began receding in Alaska on Sunday, revealing the damage after the remnants of a typhoon lashed the state with its fiercest storm in years. The full extent of the storm’s impact may not be clear for days, but residents across the state’s low-lying western coast […]