List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes

Damage in Long Beach, Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina.

This is a list of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, broadly capturing the severity of the damage each system has caused. The costliest tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic is held jointly by hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, both of which resulted in approximately $125 billion in property damage during the year they occurred.

A majority of the costliest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history have peaked as major hurricanes. However, weaker tropical cyclones can still cause widespread damage. Tropical storms Alberto in 1994, Allison in 2001, Lee in 2011 and Imelda in 2019 caused over a billion dollars in damage. Flooding typically accounts for about 60% of all of a storm's damages,^{[citation needed]} and this is reflected in the list with Allison, Harvey, Florence, and most recently, Imelda, which produced catastrophic rainfall; and with Katrina, Ike, and Sandy, which produced devastating storm surges. Wind damage encompasses a large portion of storm damage as well, evidenced by Andrew, Irma, and Michael. Due to their excessive damage, the names of tropical cyclones accruing at least $1 billion in damage are usually retired by the World Meteorological Organization, but this is not always the case. Hurricane Juan in 1985 was the first hurricane to cause at least a billion in damage and not be retired; its name was retired on a later usage in 2003 that did not cause over a billion in damage. Since Juan, nine tropical cyclones that caused at least a billion in damage were not retired, the most notable of which being Hurricane Sally in 2020 which caused at least $7.3 billion, the costliest storm not to have its name retired.

The first hurricane to cause at least $1 billion in damage was Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which caused much of its damage in southeastern Louisiana. Four years later, Hurricane Camille caused over $1 billion in damage as it ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi at landfall, and Virginia after moving inland. After the 1960s, each decade saw an increase in tropical cyclones causing at least a billion in damage over the last, due to increasing urban development and population. In the 1970s, four hurricanes caused at least a billion in damage; the costliest of which was Hurricane Agnes, which caused $2.1 billion in damage. The following decade featured seven hurricanes causing at least a billion in damage. In the 1990s, twelve tropical cyclones accrued at least a billion in damage, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The system greatly exceeded the damage figure of any preceding tropical cyclone, causing $27.3 billion in damage, mostly in South Florida. Nineteen tropical cyclones in the 2000s caused at least $1 billion in damage. The 2005 season had six billion-dollar hurricanes, the most of any season on record; this record was later surpassed in 2020, with eight billion-dollar hurricanes. Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Irma in 2017 caused at least $1 billion in damage in four separate countries. In the 2010s, twelve storms caused at least $1 billion in damage, the last of which is Tropical Storm Imelda, which accrued at least $5 billion in damage.^[1] Hurricane Hanna was the first storm of the 2020s to become a billion dollar disaster.^[2]

Overall costliest[]

This list ranks tropical cyclones within the Atlantic that have accrued at least US$1 billion in damage, based on their nominal USD damage totals. Because these numbers have not been adjusted for inflation, nor adjusted for changes in population and wealth in coastal counties, the costliness of recent hurricanes is artificially inflated compared to hurricanes of the past. This makes it hard to accurately compare the damage inflicted by hurricanes over time.

In contrast, the normalized damage reported in the adjacent column gives an estimate of the direct economic losses from each hurricane if that same event was to occur under contemporary societal conditions, based on a method by Roger A. Pielke Jr. and Christopher Landsea.^[3] The general formula for normalized losses ${\displaystyle D_{2018}}$ is

${\displaystyle D_{2018}=D_{y}\times I_{y}\times RWPC_{y}\times P_{2018/y}}$

where ${\displaystyle D_{y}}$ is reported damage in current-year US dollars, ${\displaystyle I_{y}}$ is the GDP deflator for inflation adjustment, ${\displaystyle RWPC_{y}}$ is an estimate of current-cost net stock of fixed assets and consumer durable goods to capture changes in real wealth per-capita, and ${\displaystyle P_{2018/y}}$ county population adjustment.^[3]

Indicates that the storm name was not retired after its usage

Costliest Atlantic hurricanes hide

Name	Nominal damage (Billions USD)	Normalized damage (Billions USD)	Season	Storm classification at peak intensity	Areas affected	References
Katrina	$125.0	$116.9	2005	Category 5 hurricane	Louisiana Mississippi The Bahamas United States Gulf Coast South Florida Northeast Eastern Canada	[4][5]
Harvey	$125.0	$62.2	2017	Category 4 hurricane	Texas Louisiana South America Central America The Caribbean Yucatan Peninsula	[5][6]
Maria	$91.6	N/A	2017	Category 5 hurricane	Puerto Rico Lesser Antilles Greater Antilles Caribbean Sea Eastern United States	[7]
Irma	$77.2	$31.0	2017	Category 5 hurricane	Lesser Antilles Greater Antilles Caribbean Sea Eastern United States	[5]
Sandy	$68.7	$73.5	2012	Category 3 hurricane	The Caribbean United States East Coast Eastern Canada	[5][8]
Ike	$38.0	$35.2	2008	Category 4 hurricane	Greater Antilles Texas Louisiana Midwestern United States Eastern Canada Iceland	[9][10][11]
Wilma	$27.4	$31.9	2005	Category 5 hurricane	Greater Antilles Central America Florida	[12][13][14][15]
Andrew	$27.3	$106.0	1992	Category 5 hurricane	The Bahamas Florida Louisiana	[9][16]
Ivan	$26.1	$25.9	2004	Category 5 hurricane	The Caribbean Venezuela United States Gulf Coast	[9][17][18]
Michael	$25.5	N/A	2018	Category 5 hurricane	Central America Florida Georgia United States Gulf Coast Eastern United States Eastern Canada Iberian Peninsula	[19][20]
Florence	$24.2	N/A	2018	Category 4 hurricane	West Africa Cape Verde Bermuda Eastern United States Atlantic Canada	[20][21]
Laura	$19.1	N/A	2020	Category 4 hurricane	Leeward Islands Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Haiti Cuba Southeastern United States	[22][23]
Rita	$18.5	$14.9	2005	Category 5 hurricane	Cuba Texas Louisiana	[24]
Charley	$16.9	$26.9	2004	Category 4 hurricane	Jamaica Cayman Islands Cuba Florida The Carolinas	[25][9]
Matthew	$16.5	$8.6	2016	Category 5 hurricane	Colombia Venezuela The Caribbean United States East Coast	[26][27]
Irene	$14.2	$10.8	2011	Category 3 hurricane	The Caribbean United States East Coast Eastern Canada	[28][29][30]
Hugo	$11.0	$25.1	1989	Category 5 hurricane	The Caribbean United States East Coast	[9][31]
Frances	$10.1	$16.5	2004	Category 4 hurricane	The Caribbean Eastern United States Ontario	[9][17][32][33]
Georges	$9.3	<$6.0	1998	Category 4 hurricane	The Caribbean United States Gulf Coast	[5][34][35][36][37][38]
Allison	$9.0	<$6.0	2001	Tropical storm	Texas Louisiana Southern United States	[39][9][40]
Eta	$8.3	N/A	2020	Category 4 hurricane	The Caribbean Central America Cuba Eastern United States
Gustav	$8.3	<$6.0	2008	Category 4 hurricane	Hispaniola Jamaica Cuba Louisiana	[9][10]
Jeanne	$7.9	$13.6	2004	Category 3 hurricane	The Caribbean Eastern United States	[9][17][41][42]
Sally	$7.3	N/A	2020	Category 2 hurricane	The Bahamas Florida Southeastern United States	[43][44]
Floyd	$6.5	$13.9	1999	Category 4 hurricane	The Bahamas Eastern United States Atlantic Canada	[9][45]
Mitch	$6.1	<$6.0	1998	Category 5 hurricane	Central America Yucatán Peninsula South Florida	[46][47][48]
Isabel	$5.5	<$6.0	2003	Category 5 hurricane	Greater Antilles The Bahamas Eastern United States Ontario	[9][49]
Dorian	$5.1	N/A	2019	Category 5 hurricane	The Caribbean The Bahamas Eastern United States Atlantic Canada	[50][51]
Imelda	$5.0	N/A	2019	Tropical storm	Texas Louisiana Oklahoma Arkansas	[52]
Fran	$5.0	$11.1	1996	Category 3 hurricane	Eastern United States Ontario	[9]
Isaias	$4.8	N/A	2020	Category 1 hurricane	Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Haiti Bahamas Eastern United States	[53]
Opal	$4.7	$10.0	1995	Category 4 hurricane	Guatemala Yucatán Peninsula Eastern United States	[9][54]
Zeta	$4.4	N/A	2020	Category 3 hurricane	Jamaica Yucatan Peninsula Louisiana Mississippi	[55]
Dennis	$4.0	<$6.0	2005	Category 4 hurricane	Greater Antilles Southeastern United States	[9][12][56]
Stan	$3.9	<$6.0	2005	Category 1 hurricane	Mexico Central America	[41][57]
Karl	$3.9	<$6.0	2010	Category 3 hurricane	Mexico Central America	[58]
Isaac	$3.1	<$6.0	2012	Category 1 hurricane	The Caribbean Eastern United States	[59]
Delta	$3.0	N/A	2020	Category 4 hurricane	Jamaica Cayman Islands Yucatan Peninsula Southeastern United States
Alicia	$3.0	$13.6	1983	Category 3 hurricane	East Texas Louisiana	[60]
Gilbert	$3.0	<$6.0	1988	Category 5 hurricane	Venezuela Central America Hispaniola Mexico	[61]
Luis	$3.0	<$6.0	1995	Category 4 hurricane	Leeward Islands Puerto Rico Bermuda	[54]
Lee	$2.8	<$6.0	2011	Tropical storm	Louisiana Mississippi	[62]
Marilyn	$2.5	<$6.0	1995	Category 3 hurricane	The Caribbean Bermuda	[9][54]
Michelle	$2.4	<$6.0	2001	Category 4 hurricane	Central America Jamaica Cuba The Bahamas	[36][40]
Agnes	$2.1	$26.0	1972	Category 1 hurricane	Mexico Cuba Eastern United States	[9][63]
Joan	$2.0	<$6.0	1988	Category 4 hurricane	Lesser Antilles Colombia Venezuela Central America	[61]
Fifi	$1.8	<$6.0	1974	Category 2 hurricane	Jamaica Central America Mexico	[64][65]
Frederic	$1.8	<$6.0	1979	Category 4 hurricane	The Caribbean Southeastern United States	[66]
Dean	$1.7	<$6.0	2007	Category 5 hurricane	The Caribbean Central America	[41][67]
Dolly	$1.6	<$6.0	2008	Category 2 hurricane	Cayman Islands Mexico Southwestern United States	[10]
Allen	$1.6	<$6.0	1980	Category 5 hurricane	The Caribbean Yucatán Peninsula Mexico South Texas	[41][68][69]
David	$1.5	<$6.0	1979	Category 5 hurricane	The Caribbean United States East Coast	[41][66]
Alex	$1.5	<$6.0	2010	Category 2 hurricane	Central America Greater Antilles Texas	[70][71][72][73]
Juan	$1.5	<$6.0	1985	Category 1 hurricane	United States Gulf Coast	[9]
Bob	$1.5	<$6.0	1991	Category 3 hurricane	United States East Coast Canada	[74]
Roxanne	$1.5	<$6.0	1995	Category 3 hurricane	Mexico	[54]
Ingrid	$1.5	<$6.0	2013	Category 1 hurricane	Mexico	[9]
Betsy	$1.4	<$6.0	1965	Category 4 hurricane	Louisiana South Florida Caribbean	[9]
Camille	$1.4	$26.4	1969	Category 5 hurricane	Mississippi Louisiana Alabama Virginia Cuba	[9]
Iota	$1.4	N/A	2020	Category 4 hurricane	Colombia Central America	[75]
Elena	$1.3	<$6.0	1985	Category 3 hurricane	Cuba United States Gulf Coast	[76]
Isidore	$1.3	<$6.0	2002	Category 3 hurricane	Cuba Yucatán Peninsula Louisiana	[77][78]
Hanna	$1.2	N/A	2020	Category 1 hurricane	Hispaniola Cuba Gulf Coast of the United States Mexico	[79]
Lili	$1.2	<$6.0	2002	Category 4 hurricane	Lesser Antilles Greater Antilles Gulf Coast of the United States	[9]
Alberto	$1.0	<$6.0	1994	Tropical storm	Southeastern United States	[62]
Emily	$1.0	<$6.0	2005	Category 5 hurricane	The Caribbean Honduras Belize Mexico Texas	[5]
Bonnie	$1.0	<$6.0	1998	Category 3 hurricane	Lesser Antilles East Coast of the United States	[5]

See also[]

• List of Atlantic hurricane records
• List of deadliest Atlantic hurricanes
• List of Pacific hurricanes
• List of tropical cyclones
• Template:Costliest U.S. Atlantic hurricanes

Notes[]

References[]