Climate Matters: Midwest severe storms were among the costliest disasters last year
Natural disasters set records in both cost and frequency last year, according to a report from the nonprofit Climate Central.
The report states that 2025 was the third busiest year for expensive disasters in the United States, following record-setting years in 2023 and 2024, with 23 separate disasters costing over $1 billion.
Far and away, the most devastating and costly disaster of 2025 was the January wildfires in Los Angeles. The blazes contributed to a whopping $61 billion in damages, half of the total costs of all disasters in the United States last year.
Notably, no hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. in the last hurricane season, but severe storms continued to set records. Twenty-one of the 23 billion-dollar disasters in 2025 were the result of severe storms, the highest number in a single year ever.
The second most expensive disaster of 2025 was a round of severe weather that swept through the Midwest between March 14th and 16th. Over 180 tornadoes were reported across multiple states, including Missouri. Those storms racked up a combined $11 billion in damages to homes, businesses, infrastructure, and the environment.
The third costliest disaster last year was another round of storms that impacted the eastern half of the country between May 15th and 17th, totaling over $6 billion in damages. This event includes the EF3 tornado that ripped through the St. Louis metro area on the afternoon of May 15th.
In his State of the State address on Tuesday, Governor Mike Kehoe noted that Missouri endured five separate natural disaster declarations in 2025, the most for any state last year.
This reflects a national trend of an increasing frequency of disasters. In the 1980s, the average length of time between billion-dollar disasters was 82 days. In the last decade, that number dropped to 16 days. In 2025, there was a billion-dollar disaster every 10 days on average.
The tragic flooding in the Texas Hill Country last year, the deadliest inland flash flooding in the United States in 49 years, did not exceed one billion in damages, but the cost to those communities goes far beyond dollar figures.
