Worst Natural Disasters in the US in the Last 10 Years

Claiming 49 lives and causing nearly $11 billion in damage, Hurricane Matthew is one of the deadliest and most destructive storms in the United States in the last 10 years. After narrowly missing Florida as a Category 4 storm, Matthew made landfall in South Carolina as a Category 1 storm and brought historic flooding to the eastern part of North Carolina. Parts of coastal Georgia and Florida were also affected by the storm surge brought by the hurricane.

Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane at Mexico Beach, Florida, bringing with it 160 mph winds and a 15-foot storm surge. Hitting during harvest season in early October, the storm caused billions in damage to agriculture and forestry in numerous states. All told, the storm wrought a whopping $25.2 billion in total damage, more than all but five other storms in the last decade. Michael is only the fourth Category 5 storm on record to make landfall in the United States.

Starting the day after Christmas in 2015, a storm system lead to powerful tornadoes in the Dallas metro area and brought torrential rain and historic flooding to parts of the Midwest. The same system also brought severe winter weather with snow and ice to parts of New England. All told, the storm killed 50 people and caused $2.2 billion in damage.

At the beginning of 2013, moderate to exceptional drought conditions covered over half of the Midwest. Though heavy rains improved conditions by midyear, the rains stopped in July and dry conditions carried into autumn, pushing 32% of the Midwest back to drought conditions. Meanwhile, over half of the western United States was under drought conditions for the majority of the year. The drought lead to extensive crop damage. In the summer of 2013, much of the Midwest also reported record high temperatures.

Hurricane Florence made landfall on the morning of Sept, 14, 2018 in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, as a Category 1 storm, bringing with it a 10-foot storm surge and winds of over 100 mph. The majority of the damage wrought by the storm was due to heavy rains that brought historic flooding inland. In total, the storm lead to 53 deaths and caused a staggering $24.2 billion in damage.