Extreme weather caused 18 disasters in US last year, costing $165bn

Disasters costing at least $1bn killed 474 people last year, government figures show

The US endured a particularly painful year as communities wrestled with the growing impacts of the climate crisis, with 18 major disasters wreaking havoc across the country as planet-heating emissions continued to climb.

Storms, floods, wildfires and droughts caused a total of $165bn in damages in the US last year, $10bn more than the 2021 total and the third most costly year since records of major losses began in 1980, according to new US government data.