Planet Had 40 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in 2019, the Fourth-Most on Record

Brian DoneganPublished: January 23, 2020

The planet was battered by 40 individual billion-dollar weather disasters in 2019, according to a report released Wednesday by insurance broker Aon.

When adjusted for inflation, it ties 2018 for the fourth-most on record in a single year.

This is significantly above the long-term average of 30 billion-dollar weather disasters annually since 2000, but only slightly above the average of 37 over the past decade.

The only years with more billion-dollar weather disasters than 2019 and 2018 were 2010 (47 such disasters), 2011 and 2013 (45 each).

The bar graph below shows the number of billion-dollar weather disasters globally for each of the past 10 years, according to data compiled by Aon.

Each bar on the graph indicates how many global billion-dollar weather disasters occurred every year from 2010 to 2019.

2019 ranked as the eighth-costliest year on record for weather disasters globally. Combined damage from last year's 40 billion-dollar weather disasters totaled $229 billion, 17% higher than the 21st-century inflation-adjusted average.

Among the three decades in Aon's historical database, the 2010s were the costliest for natural disasters.

Typhoon Hagibis, which struck Japan in October 2019, was the tied for the year's costliest weather disaster, resulting in $15 billion in damage and killing 99 people. Summer monsoon floods in China between June and August were the other $15 billion weather disaster and were responsible for 300 deaths.

Hagibis made landfall at Category 2 strength over Japan's Izu Peninsula at Kawasaki City on Oct. 12 around 7 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. It had previously been a super typhoon – a term given to typhoons with estimated maximum winds of at least 150 mph – for 78 hours after rapidly intensifying Oct. 6 into Oct. 7.

Torrential rainfall, storm-surge flooding and strong winds hammered Japan's largest main island, Honshu. More than a foot of rainfall was measured over the Tokai region, and 37 inches of rain was reported at Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture from late Oct. 11 into late Oct. 12.

A car passes overturned vehicles in Nagano, Japan, on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in an area affected by flooding after being hit by Typhoon Hagibis.

A wind gust of 100 mph was measured at Kozushima in Tokyo Prefecture, and a gust of 98 mph was recorded at Tokyo Airport. The highest sustained wind was 78 mph at Haneda, also in Tokyo Prefecture.

(RECAP: Typhoon Hagibis Strikes Japan)

There were some 11,000 fatalities blamed on natural disasters in 2019, ranking among the 10 years with the fewest disaster-related deaths since 1950. Monsoon flooding in India, which killed about 1,750 people, was the deadliest natural disaster last year.

The United States had 14 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2019, according to both Aon and NOAA. That tied for the fourth-most such disasters on record, behind 2017 and 2011 (16 each) and 2016 (15).

The table below lists the five costliest weather disasters, according to Aon's database, that had impacts in the U.S. last year. Three disasters each produced $10 billion in damage: Hurricane Dorian (mostly in the Bahamas, however), Mississippi River flooding and Missouri River flooding.

2019's five costliest weather disasters in the U.S. are listed, along with their dates of occurrence and death and damage totals.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.