Billion Dollar Thunderstorms

Normally, we think of the BIG Disasters as being hurricanes and earthquakes. These are mega events that span sometimes multiple states and regions. The fact of the matter is that circumstances have changed. This from the Washington Post, “There were a record-setting 28 billion-dollar disasters last year (2023), causing $94 billion in damage. Thunderstorm events accounted for 19 of those disasters, and more than half of the costs. A decade earlier, seven thunderstorm events topped $1 billion in damage.”

Hmm, that would mean that 67% of billion dollar disasters were thunderstorm related in 2023. The major outcome of these thunderstorms is the production of wind and rain. Winds in particular show up as tornadoes, which of course have a terrible impact on any place where they land. However, just high wind events like the storms that lashed Houston are an example of what thunderstorms and 100MPH winds can do to downtown high-rise buildings where windows were blown out. Least I forget, remember that thunderstorm hail has a huge damage impact to roofs and cars.

The other “surprising” factor that was pointed out in the above article on the cost of disasters is that fact that our “footprint” of infrastructure, where we live and work has grown. There are more people, more houses and as we spread out across the land we increase the number of targets for these storms.

Watch for more information coming on the increasing cost of insurance and the inability of people to afford the coverage, or even find insurance for their homes and businesses. This will cause a real damper on the housing sector in particular. I’m afraid that people will turn to government to solve the problem for them by coming up with a government subsidized solution that solves their problem, but digs us all in a deeper financial hole—just to keep growth humming along.