Extreme Weather In US Caused Damage Worth $165 Billion: Report

Major hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, drought and a fierce winter storm caused more than $165 billion in damage in the United States last year with climate change "supercharging" some extreme weather, a US government report said Tuesday. The country experienced 18 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2022, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, with Hurricane Ian the most costly at nearly $123 billion. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) said in a year-end report that 2022 tied 2017 and 2011 for the most billion-dollar disasters in a calendar year, behind the 22 and 20 separate billion-dollar events of 2020 and 2021. The increasing number of extreme events "hints that the extremely high activity of recent years is becoming the new normal," the NCEI said. With a major disasters price tag of more than $165 billion, 2022 ranked third in total costs behind 2017 (hurricanes Harvey and Irma) and 200…