Since NOAA No Longer Tracks Disaster Costs, Former Employees Do; So Far In 2025, $101 Billion In US Losses

[hatrack]

This year’s extreme weather disasters have wreaked so much destruction that they collectively eclipse the annual GDP of more than 100 countries and come close to New York City’s massive budget, the largest in the nation. Record losses for U.S. communities in the first half of this year were driven by the Palisades and Eaton fires in January, which tore through Los Angeles neighborhoods, destroyed thousands of homes and left a long road to recovery.

That conclusion is based on newly published data from a former NOAA scientist and the nonprofit research group at Climate Central, documenting 14 extreme events from January to June 2025. Each of these events caused more than $1 billion in damage.

Combined, communities lost $101.4 billion due to these weather events, underscoring the devastating impact these disasters continue to have on communities.

Typically, the federal government would track these weather disasters, but the Trump administration cut that program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In its absence, Adam Smith, the NOAA scientist who led the effort for over a decade and was among the many federal employees who left the agency, revived the data at Climate Central using the same NOAA methods.

EDIT

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/22/weather-disaster-data-cost-government-noaa/86808748007/