At a Glance

The U.S. has had a costly stretch of hurricanes and tropical storms in recent years.This stretch began with Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.Nineteen separate storms have each caused at least $1 billion in damage in the U.S. since Matthew.That includes five of the 10 costliest tropical cyclones in U.S. history.

A siege of hurricanes and tropical storms over the past five-plus years has inflicted a half-trillion dollars of total damage in the United States, according to government estimates.

Beginning with Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 through Hurricane Nicholas in 2021, 19 hurricanes and tropical storms caused at least $1 billion in damage in the U.S. when adjusted for inflation, according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

That's by far the most billion-dollar tropical cyclones in any six-year stretch in NCEI records dating to 1980.

Seven of these billion-dollar storms happened in 2020, including strike in southwest Louisiana. Prior to that, the most in any single year was four each during the historic 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, and also in 2021.

The number of billion-dollar tropical cyclone disasters in the U.S. by year from 1980 through 2021, adjusted for inflation, are shown by the yellow bars.

(NOAA/NCEI)

Adding NOAA's damage estimates from each of the 19 events equals a staggering $507.9 billion.

To put this figure in perspective, that's more than the as of the time this article was published.

This frenetic stretch has produced five of the 10 costliest tropical storms and hurricanes in U.S. history: 2017's trio of Harvey, Irma and Maria, in 2018 and in 2021.

The 10 costliest U.S. tropical storms and hurricanes, adjusted for inflation. Storms that have occurred since 2017 are highlighted in light blue.

(Data: NOAA-NCEI; Graph: Infogram)

In addition to the damage tally was the death toll.

Hurricane Maria's devastating strike in Puerto Rico in 2017 claimed an estimated 2,981 lives, according to NOAA.

Sixteen of the 18 other billion-dollar U.S. storms since 2016 claimed a combined 542 lives. The deadliest of those included Irma (97 killed), Ida (96) and Harvey (89).

The past have each been more active than usual.

A higher number of tropical storms and hurricanes doesn't necessarily guarantee more landfalls. However, steering winds in the atmosphere have consistently directed more storms toward the U.S. in recent years, with the exception of the last half of the 2021 hurricane season after Hurricane Nicholas struck the Gulf Coast in September.

Prior to 2016's Hurricane Matthew, the U.S. had gone without a billion-dollar tropical storm or hurricane, due in part to a strong El Niño.

Forecasters expect the to be active, yet again, due to a lack of El Niño.

But you should every year, regardless of the seasonal forecast. It only takes one storm to strike where you live to make it a destructive hurricane season.

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