The Cost Of Disasters Is Increasing In 2022

With eye-popping price tags on everything from housing to food to fuel, the 9.1% inflation rate already is increasing costs for American consumers. But there’s another reason for mounting prices—the huge bill for damages caused by the rise of extreme weather worsened by climate change.

Obviously, loss of life is the biggest tragedy and greatest risk posed by extreme weather. However, the loss of livelihood and property also can inflict great pain by damaging economic prospects and increasing prices. When a wildfire, tornado or hurricane causes damage, the flow of business is interrupted, infrastructure is damaged, supply chains are further ensnarled, and everything becomes more expensive.

With 2/3 of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, there is little cushion to help them rebuild when their employer goes out of business, their home gets flooded or their community lacks power for days. One big disaster can wipe out the hard-won gains of a family, community, business or even an entire nation. And yet, instead of protecting our communities, we are seeing an increase in human-caused disasters triggered by our seeming unwillingness to prepare for the changes we are seeing in the natural world.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced that we have seen nine disasters resulting in at least a billion dollars in damage so far in 2022, marking a significant increase and following a pattern that has been accelerating in recent years. The past two years saw record numbers of billion-dollar disasters. From 1980 to 2021, the average annual number of weather disasters causing damage in excess of $1 billion was 7.7. A look at just the past five years, reveals a startling increase to 17.8 such events. Our failure to design resilient systems to protect ourselves is costing us money, impeding growth and endangering lives.

One reason for the surge in expensive disasters is climate change-fueled drought, as hotter summers and decreased precipitation is sparking devastating wildfires. This year in the spring season alone, more land has already burned than the 10-year average. We also are seeing more thunderstorms and weird weather like the recent derecho in South Dakota that turned the sky neon green. Extreme temperatures and flash flooding have indeed been plaguing the Midwest, a region that we may have thought was less vulnerable to climate-related disasters than say, the Eastern Seaboard. And we have yet to really see what the 2022 hurricane season will bring to that region—one in which hurricanes routinely cause pricey damage—in the second half of the year. NOAA predicts a busy season.

An increase in irresponsible land development, for example in flood zones, as well as short-sighted fire suppression practices, are also worsening the cost of destruction. The rise in the wildland-urban interface caused by expanded building in buffer zones makes people vulnerable to Nature’s wrath and contributes to the record destruction we see today. We need to develop and implement smart resilience building and adaptation measures immediately if we are to have any chance at all of lessening the devastating toll that climate change is already exacting.

The nation must continue to improve infrastructure and coordinate national preparedness efforts. And because 85% of our critical infrastructure is in the hands of the private sector, businesses need to invest in strong business continuity plans, leveraging everything that they have learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Families and individuals need to talk through where they are vulnerable and put in place family emergency plans. With acute short-term economic and security woes diverting our attention, I fear that we will do far too little, far too late.