"WASHINGTON — With three strong hurricanes, wildfires, hail, flooding, tornadoes and drought, the United States tallied a record high bill last year for weather disasters: $306 billion.
The U.S. had 16 disasters last year with damage exceeding a billion dollars, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday. That ties 2011 for the number of billion-dollar disasters, but the total cost blew past the previous record of $215 billion in 2005.
Costs are adjusted for inflation and NOAA keeps track of billion-dollar weather disasters going back to 1980.
Three of the five most expensive hurricanes in U.S. history hit last year."
Seth Borenstein reports for the Associated Press January 8, 2018.
Source: AP, 01/09/2018
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