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Graphic Truth: Billion-dollar disasters have become more common

July 08, 2025
Lizzy Yee
and
Paige Fusco

In addition to the devastating human toll of last weekend’s Texas floods, which have so far taken the lives of at least 100 people – including dozens of children – initial estimates put the economic damage to people’s homes, businesses, and public infrastructure at upwards of $18 billion.

The number of US weather and climate-related disasters that have inflicted at least $1 billion worth of damage has in fact grown significantly over the past two decades, as weather patterns become more severe, a phenomenon experts attribute to climate change. Here is a look at this tragic trend since 1980.

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