Disaster catalog
Disasters (24)
This list has 24 published disasters. From 2023 onward, every nationally significant disaster that meets the inclusion rules is included. Those rules are not a death or dollar test. A community can be devastated and still not be on this list. See Methods.
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Hurricane Lala (August 2026) — Hawaii
Hurricane Lala passed about 30 miles south of Hawaii Island on August 15, 2026, as a Category 1 hurricane without an official landfall. Torrential rain — more than 40 inches in places, 43.54 inches at Laupahoehoe — triggered flash flooding and landslides, especially in Kau; more than 100 homes were damaged or swept away, bridges and highway sections failed, and nearly 200,000 customers lost power. At least two deaths have been reported. National coverage (AP, PBS, CNN) broke the same day as closest approach. Early counts only — no headline fatality or dollar figures until the six-month impact pass.
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Pacific Northwest Wildfires (July 2026)
A mid-July 2026 lightning outbreak ignited dozens of large wildfires across Oregon and Washington during extreme drought and record-low snowpack. By late July, more than two million acres had burned across the Pacific Northwest — Oregon on pace for a modern record (~1.8 million acres) and Washington surpassing any full year since 2021 (~425,000 acres as of Aug 1). Major incidents include the Rowe Creek Complex and Big Grass Fire in Oregon (each exceeding 300,000 acres) and the Kaiser Canyon Fire on the Colville Reservation in Washington (134,000+ acres). On Aug 1, Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and burn ban as NWS issued its first-ever particularly dangerous situation fire weather warning for Eastern Washington; the fast-moving Old Trails Fire near Spokane forced Level 3 evacuations and drew fresh AP/CNN national wire. Evacuations, structure loss, hazardous air quality in eastern Oregon and Washington, and NIFC Preparedness Level 5 mobilization drew national coverage July 30–31 and Aug 1. The episode overlapped in time with, but was distinct from, the cross-border Canadian/Minnesota smoke event that peaked July 15–17.
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Texas Hill Country Flash Floods (July 2026)
Overnight July 15-16, 2026, catastrophic flash flooding struck the Texas Hill Country - Kerr, Kendall, Uvalde, and Comal counties - for the second consecutive year. Roughly 20-24 inches of rain fell; the Guadalupe and Pedernales rivers reached major flood stage, prompting mandatory evacuations, 230+ rescues, and at least two deaths (a 65-year-old Kerrville man whose mobile home was swept away, and a 74-year-old man in Uvalde County who drove into high water). The flooding hit the same areas as the July 4, 2025 disaster that killed 139 people, including campers at Camp Mystic. 2026 figures are early — no six-month impact assessment yet.
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Canadian Fire Smoke (July 2026)
Dense smoke from wildfires in Canada and northern Minnesota produced hazardous to very unhealthy air quality across much of the Midwest, Great Lakes, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast beginning around mid-July 2026, with national coverage and AirNow alerts affecting on the order of 100 million people. Cities including Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, and Washington, D.C. recorded extreme PM2.5 / AQI readings during July 15-17.
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Eastern U.S. Heat Dome (June–July 2026)
Starting June 28, 2026, a high-pressure heat dome settled over the central and eastern United States, bringing the summer's first widespread extreme heat event ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. The National Weather Service placed roughly 180 million people under major or extreme HeatRisk; heat indices reached 100–115°F across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast. New York City and Boston hit 100°F on July 2 for the first time in years; the event strained power grids (PJM near record demand), disrupted transit, and coincided with World Cup matches and Independence Day celebrations. At least 44 heat-related deaths were reported across several states during the Jul 1–4 peak; figures are early — verify against official counts.
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Texas Hill Country Flash Floods (July 2025)
Six months after the disaster 139 deaths $18 billion
Over the July 4, 2025 weekend, catastrophic flash flooding on the Guadalupe River and across the Texas Hill Country (Kerr, Kendall, Travis, Burnet, and surrounding counties) killed 139 people, including at least 27 children and counselors at Camp Mystic near Hunt. The river rose roughly 26 feet in under an hour before dawn on July 4. It was one of the deadliest inland flood events in modern Texas history and set off a national debate over federal preparedness after staffing cuts at the National Weather Service and FEMA.
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Eastern U.S. Heat Dome (June 2025)
Six months after the disaster 32 deaths Unknown
A late-June 2025 heat dome brought record June heat to the central and eastern United States. National wire locked Sunday, June 22 (AP/PBS): a heat dome over the Midwest and East, with heat alerts from Minnesota to Maine. Extreme Heat Warnings were already in force on parts of the I-95 corridor that day. By Monday, June 23, on the order of 147 million people were under heat alerts. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore reached or approached 100°F on June 24; NCEI later reported more than 100 million people across 726 counties experienced record heat June 22–25. This record is the 2025 analog of the June 2026 eastern heat dome. Messaging review is not closed.
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Mid-South / Ohio Valley Flooding (April 2025)
Six months after the disaster 24 deaths $4.1 billion
A stalled front and slow-moving storm system dumped days of training thunderstorms across the Mid-South and Ohio Valley beginning April 2, 2025. By Friday, April 4, flooding — not tornadoes — led the national wire: Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was underwater and a 9-year-old was swept away in Frankfort. Little Rock issued its first flash-flood emergency the next morning; Memphis had one that afternoon and its wettest April day on record. Tornadoes that week ride this record, not a second one.
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Eaton Fire (January 2025)
Six months after the disaster 19 deaths $28 billion
On January 7, 2025, the Eaton Fire erupted near Altadena Drive in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills as Santa Ana winds peaked. It destroyed 9,419 structures — heavily in Altadena, a diverse foothill community — and killed 19 people. National coverage often paired it with the Palisades Fire, but ignition, geography, and local impact were distinct. CAL FIRE classified it as a separate wildfire incident.
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Palisades Fire (January 2025)
Six months after the disaster 12 deaths $37 billion
On January 7, 2025, the Palisades Fire ignited in the Santa Monica Mountains above Pacific Palisades during extreme Santa Ana winds. It became one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles history, destroying 6,845 structures — much of the Palisades neighborhood north of Sunset Boulevard — and killing 12 people before containment on January 31. CAL FIRE and national outlets characterized it as a wind-driven wildfire; it burned concurrently with but separately from the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
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Hurricane Milton (October 2024) — Florida Gulf Coast
Six months after the disaster 39 deaths $34.3 billion
Milton intensified rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on October 9, 2024, as a Category 3 hurricane — weeks after Helene. Mass evacuations, a major tornado outbreak, and surge/wind damage across the Tampa Bay region and central Florida saturated national news.
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Hurricane Helene (September 2024) — Southeast / Southern Appalachians
Six months after the disaster 250 deaths $78.7 billion
Category 4 landfall near the Florida Big Bend with catastrophic inland flooding and wind damage across multiple states. Among the deadliest U.S. mainland hurricanes since Katrina (2005). Multi-state impacts; FL used as landfall state code.
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Hurricane Francine (September 2024) — Louisiana
Six months after the disaster 0 deaths $1.3 billion
Francine intensified over unusually warm Gulf waters and made U.S. landfall in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, on September 11, 2024, as a Category 2 hurricane. A New Orleans flash-flood emergency, hundreds of thousands of power outages, and same-day AP coverage made it a distinct national disaster cycle between Beryl (July) and Helene (late September).
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Hurricane Beryl (July 2024) — Texas Gulf Coast
Two years after the disaster 48 deaths $7.2 billion
After becoming the earliest Atlantic Category 5 hurricane on record, Beryl crossed the Caribbean and made U.S. landfall near Matagorda, Texas, on July 8, 2024, as a Category 1 hurricane. Widespread power outages, storm surge, and wind damage across the upper Texas coast became the dominant U.S. national story. Remnants produced deadly freshwater flooding in Vermont on July 9–11. That flooding rides this record; it is not a second 2024 disaster.
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South Fork / Salt Fires (June 2024) — Ruidoso
Two years after the disaster 2 deaths $1.8 billion (NCEI, New Mexico wildfires June 2024)
The South Fork and Salt fires started June 17, 2024, on Mescalero Apache tribal land and closed on Ruidoso like a pair of tongs. About 1,400 structures were destroyed and about 8,000 people evacuated.
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Smokehouse Creek Fire (February 2024) — Texas Panhandle
Two years after the disaster 2 deaths $123 million
The Smokehouse Creek Fire ignited north of Stinnett on February 26, 2024, and within days became the largest wildfire in Texas history, burning about 1.06 million acres across the Panhandle and into Oklahoma. Evacuations, a 60-county state disaster declaration, and same-week national coverage made it a distinct disaster cycle. Two civilians died. Windy Deuce, Grape Vine Creek, Reamer (merged into Smokehouse Creek), and other Panhandle ignitions that week are the same national cycle, not a separate record.
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Tropical Storm Ophelia (September 2023) — North Carolina / Mid-Atlantic
Two years after the disaster 0 deaths $450 million
Ophelia formed off the Southeast coast on September 22 and made landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, around 6:15 a.m. ET on September 23, 2023, with 70 mph winds. Storm surge flooded riverfront towns including New Bern, Belhaven, and Washington; flash flooding hit Greenville; about 70,000 customers in North Carolina and Virginia lost power. AP national wire locked on landfall and inland flooding that day. Core Democratic Officials were silent in the five-day window. North Carolina’s U.S. senators that day were both Republicans. Distinct from Hurricane Lee (September 16, New England closest approach).
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Hurricane Lee (September 2023) — New England
Two years after the disaster 4 deaths $50 million
Lee rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane over record-warm Atlantic waters, then weakened and became extratropical before its closest approach to the United States. On September 16, 2023, the post-tropical cyclone passed about 50 miles from Eastport, Maine, and made landfall on Long Island, Nova Scotia, with 70 mph winds. Tropical-storm-force winds, coastal flooding, and downed trees cut power to on the order of 200,000 U.S. customers, mostly in coastal Maine. AP national wire locked that day: one dead in Searsport when a tree limb hit a vehicle. Core Democratic Officials were silent in the five-day window. Sen. Ed Markey named Lee, climate, and obstruction on September 15 — one day before the lock. Distinct from Hurricane Idalia (August 30, Florida Big Bend) and Tropical Storm Ophelia (September 23).
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Hurricane Idalia (August 2023) — Florida Big Bend / Georgia
Two years after the disaster 12 deaths $3.6 billion
Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach, Florida, on August 30, 2023, as a Category 3 hurricane with destructive surge and wind across the Big Bend, then weakened slowly while producing major flooding across southern Georgia.
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Tropical Storm Hilary (August 2023) — Southern California / Southwest
Two years after the disaster 1 death $900 million
Hilary made landfall in Baja California as a tropical storm on August 20, 2023, then crossed Southern California as a post-tropical low, bringing historic rainfall, debris flows, and flooding to the desert Southwest — the first tropical-storm watches ever issued for California.
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Lahaina Wildfire (August 2023)
Two years after the disaster 102 deaths $7 billion
On August 8, 2023, a wind-driven wildfire rekindled above Lahaina, Maui, and raced through the historic town — the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Hurricane Dora passing south and a high-pressure north of Hawaii produced hurricane-force gusts. At least 102 people died; roughly 2,200 structures were destroyed, including most of downtown Lahaina. MFD/ATF concluded the fire originated from re-energized power lines igniting vegetation (accidental).
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Vermont & Northeast Flash Floods (July 2023)
Two years after the disaster 2 deaths $620 million
Slow-moving storms dropped months of rain in days across Vermont starting July 9–10, 2023, destroying roads, inundating Montpelier and Barre, and triggering a statewide emergency. The disaster became national news as a repeat of catastrophic Vermont flooding one year after July 2022 events.
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Canadian Wildfire Smoke (June 2023)
Two years after the disaster 86 deaths $2.1 billion
In early June 2023, smoke from an unprecedented Canadian wildfire outbreak — primarily Quebec (400+ fires, 150+ out of control) — drifted south and produced hazardous air quality across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, and parts of the Midwest and South. On June 7, New York City briefly had the worst air quality of any major city worldwide (AQI 340+); skylines turned orange, schools canceled outdoor activities, MLB games postponed, and LaGuardia grounded flights. About 100 million Americans were under smoke-related air-quality alerts across 16 states that night. AccuWeather called it the worst Northeast wildfire-smoke outbreak in more than 20 years. Periodic reloads continued through the summer ("smoke-filled summer" warnings).
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Fort Lauderdale / South Florida Floods (April 2023)
Two years after the disaster 0 deaths $1.1 billion
A stalled thunderstorm complex dropped a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall on metro Broward County on April 12, 2023. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport measured 25.91 inches in 24 hours, with about 20 inches between 4 and 10 p.m. NWS Miami issued the first flash-flood emergency ever for Broward County. The airport closed for nearly 40 hours; Brightline suspended Miami–Fort Lauderdale service; Broward schools closed; more than 1,000 buildings in Fort Lauderdale took damage. AP national wire locked the same afternoon/evening. Florida has no Democratic U.S. senators. Core Democratic Officials were silent in the five-day window.