The Costliest Hurricanes in History
The costliest hurricanes on record are Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which each caused about $125 billion in damage. Katrina flooded most of New Orleans when the levees failed. Harvey stalled over Texas and dropped more than 60 inches of rain in the southeast of the state.
Below are the fifteen costliest Atlantic hurricanes, ranked by damage in the dollars of the year each one hit. Ten of the fifteen struck in 2012 or later.
| Rank | Hurricane | Areas Hit | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Hurricane Katrina2005 | Louisiana, Mississippi | $125 billion |
| #2 | Hurricane Harvey2017 | Texas | $125 billion |
| #3 | Hurricane Ian2022 | Cuba, Florida | $112 billion |
| #4 | Hurricane Maria2017 | Dominica, Puerto Rico | $91.6 billion |
| #5 | Hurricane Helene2024 | Florida, southern Appalachians | $78.7 billion |
| #6 | Hurricane Irma2017 | Caribbean, Florida | $77.2 billion |
| #7 | Hurricane Ida2021 | Louisiana, Northeast US | $75.3 billion |
| #8 | Hurricane Sandy2012 | Caribbean, Northeast US | $68.7 billion |
| #9 | Hurricane Ike2008 | Cuba, Texas | $38 billion |
| #10 | Hurricane Milton2024 | Florida | $34.6 billion |
| #11 | Hurricane Andrew1992 | Bahamas, Florida, Louisiana | $27.3 billion |
| #12 | Hurricane Wilma2005 | Mexico, Cuba, Florida | $26.5 billion |
| #13 | Hurricane Ivan2004 | Caribbean, Gulf Coast | $26.1 billion |
| #14 | Hurricane Michael2018 | Florida Panhandle, Georgia | $25.5 billion |
| #15 | Hurricane Florence2018 | Carolinas | $24.2 billion |
Damage is not adjusted for inflation. Adjusted for today's prices and today's coastal building, older storms such as Andrew would rank much higher. See the questions below.
What is the costliest hurricane in history?
Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey are tied at about $125 billion each. Katrina is usually named first, because its damage was in 2005 dollars and is larger once inflation is counted. Most of its cost came from storm surge and the flooding of New Orleans.
Why is Hurricane Andrew not higher on the list?
Because its $27.3 billion was counted in 1992 dollars, and the coast of south Florida was far less built up then. A 2018 study by Weinkle and colleagues estimated what each US hurricane would cost if it hit the same coast with 2017's population and property. On that basis Andrew would cost about $125 billion, and Katrina about $226 billion.
Why are recent hurricanes so expensive?
Mostly because there is more to destroy. Far more people and property sit along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts than in past decades, and building costs keep rising. Several recent storms also caused much of their damage through flooding rain, which reaches far inland, as Harvey did in Houston and Helene did in the mountains of North Carolina.
What was the costliest hurricane of 2024?
Hurricane Helene, at $78.7 billion. It made landfall in the Big Bend of Florida as a Category 4 and caused catastrophic flooding in the southern Appalachians. Hurricane Milton followed two weeks later and caused $34.6 billion in damage.
How These Are Ranked
Hurricanes are ranked by total estimated damage in US dollars, in the value of the year each storm hit. Estimates come from the National Hurricane Center, NOAA and other published assessments, and include damage outside the United States where it was counted. Ties are listed in date order. Damage estimates are often revised years after a storm.
More Hurricane Records
Sources & Citations
- National Hurricane Center. "Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina." nhc.noaa.gov
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. "Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters." ncei.noaa.gov
- Wikipedia. "List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes." en.wikipedia.org