Disaster catalog
Disasters (26)
This list has 26 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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26. Hurricane Isaias (October 2026) — Florida Panhandle / Alabama
Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, about 8:30 p.m. Central time on October 9, 2026, as a Category 2 hurricane. Winds were 105 miles per hour. It weakened over Alabama and was post-tropical within hours. Rain from the remnants reached the Tennessee Valley and the Appalachians. At least four people died in Florida and Alabama. Hundreds of thousands lost power.
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25. Hurricane Lowell (September 2026) — Hawaii
Hurricane Lowell passed west of Niihau on the night of September 7, 2026, as a Category 2 hurricane. There was no official landfall. Kauai took the worst of it: hurricane-force gusts, widespread power loss, storm surge, and flash flooding. Tropical-storm conditions reached Oahu. Rain fell statewide. Two people died on Kauai and one on Oahu.
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24. Hurricane Lala (August 2026) — Hawaii
Hurricane Lala passed about 30 miles south of Hawaii Island on August 15, 2026, as a Category 1 hurricane. The eye stayed offshore. Heavy rain caused flash flooding and landslides in Kau. More than 100 homes were damaged. Roads and bridges failed. Nearly 200,000 customers lost power. Two people died in Naalehu.
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23. Pacific Northwest Wildfires (July 2026)
Lightning in mid-July 2026 started dozens of large wildfires in Oregon and Washington. NPR treated Oregon’s fire season as national news on July 29. More than a million acres had already burned. By early August the nation’s largest fires were in the Pacific Northwest. Three fires near Spokane destroyed hundreds of buildings and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Fire officials had not confirmed any deaths in the first reports.
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22. Texas Hill Country Flash Floods (July 2026)
Three months after the disaster 2 deaths $489.7 million
Flash flooding on the Guadalupe River and across the Texas Hill Country became national news on July 16, 2026. The river rose overnight. Two people died. Hundreds were rescued in Kerr, Kendall, Uvalde, and Comal counties. It was a year after flooding killed 139 people in the same region.
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21. Canadian Fire Smoke (July 2026)
Three months after the disaster $38.2 billion
Dense smoke from wildfires in Canada and northern Minnesota became national news on July 15, 2026. Unhealthy air spread across the Midwest, Great Lakes, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast. Detroit recorded some of the worst air in the world on July 16. Officials told people to stay inside.
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20. Eastern U.S. Heat Dome (June–July 2026)
Three months after the disaster 44 deaths
A heat dome over the central and eastern United States became national news on June 28, 2026. Extreme heat warnings were already up in the Midwest. HeatRisk later covered about 180 million people. New York and Boston hit 100 degrees on July 2. Forty-four heat deaths were reported for July 1 through 4.
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19. Texas Hill Country Flash Floods (July 2025)
Six months after the disaster 139 deaths $18 billion
Flash flooding on the Guadalupe River and across the Texas Hill Country became national news on July 4, 2025. The water rose more than 20 feet in Kerr County before dawn. One hundred thirty-nine people died, including 27 children and counselors at Camp Mystic. Kerrville, Hunt, Ingram, and Center Point were among the places hit.
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18. Eastern U.S. Heat Dome (June 2025)
Six months after the disaster 32 deaths Unknown
A heat dome over the central and eastern United States became national news on June 22, 2025. Extreme Heat Warnings were already in force from the Midwest through the I-95 corridor. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore reached or approached 100 degrees on June 24. Thirty-two heat deaths are confirmed in four jurisdictions.
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17. Mid-South / Ohio Valley Flooding (April 2025)
Six months after the disaster 24 deaths $4.1 billion
A stalled front dumped days of rain across the Mid-South and Ohio Valley beginning April 2, 2025. By Friday, April 4, flooding led the national news. Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was underwater. Little Rock issued its first flash-flood emergency the next morning. Memphis had one that afternoon. Twenty-four people died in this storm system. Tornadoes that week are part of this disaster.
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16. Eaton Fire (January 2025)
Six months after the disaster 19 deaths $28 billion
The Eaton Fire started on January 7, 2025, in the foothills above Altadena and Pasadena. Extreme Santa Ana winds drove it through Altadena. It destroyed 9,419 structures and killed 19 people. National news treated it as a U.S. disaster on January 8. It burned at the same time as the Palisades Fire.
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15. Palisades Fire (January 2025)
Six months after the disaster 12 deaths $37 billion
The Palisades Fire started on January 7, 2025, in the Santa Monica Mountains above Pacific Palisades. Extreme Santa Ana winds drove it through Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Topanga. It destroyed 6,845 structures and killed 12 people. Containment came on January 31. It burned at the same time as the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
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14. Hurricane Milton (October 2024) — Florida Gulf Coast
Two years after the disaster 39 deaths $34.3 billion
Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, on October 9, 2024, as a Category 3 hurricane. It came two weeks after Helene. A tornado outbreak, storm surge, and wind damage hit central and western Florida. Thirty-nine people died in Florida.
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13. Hurricane Helene (September 2024) — Southeast / Southern Appalachians
Two years after the disaster 250 deaths $78.7 billion
Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Florida Big Bend on September 26, 2024, as a Category 4 hurricane. Inland flooding then hit Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia, including western North Carolina. That flooding is part of this disaster.
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12. Hurricane Francine (September 2024) — Louisiana
Two years after the disaster 0 deaths $1.3 billion
Hurricane Francine made landfall in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, on September 11, 2024, as a Category 2 hurricane. It brought wind, storm surge, and flash flooding to southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. New Orleans issued a flash-flood emergency. Hundreds of thousands of customers lost power.
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11. Hurricane Beryl (July 2024) — Texas Gulf Coast
Two years after the disaster 48 deaths $7.2 billion
Hurricane Beryl made U.S. landfall near Matagorda, Texas, on July 8, 2024, as a Category 1 hurricane. It had already been the earliest Atlantic Category 5 on record. Power went out for millions along the upper Texas coast. Remnants produced flooding in Vermont on July 9 through July 11. Forty-eight people died in the United States.
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10. 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 on June 17, 2024, on Mescalero Apache land and burned toward Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs. About 1,400 structures were destroyed and about 8,000 people evacuated. Two people died. Rain later that week flooded the burn scars. That flooding is part of this disaster.
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9. Smokehouse Creek Fire (February 2024) — Texas Panhandle
Two years after the disaster 2 deaths $123 million
The Smokehouse Creek Fire started north of Stinnett, Texas, on February 26, 2024, and became the largest wildfire in Texas history. It burned about 1.06 million acres across the Panhandle and into western Oklahoma. Towns including Stinnett, Fritch, and Canadian, Texas, were evacuated. Two civilians died. Windy Deuce and other same-week Panhandle fires are part of this disaster.
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8. Tropical Storm Ophelia (September 2023) — North Carolina / Mid-Atlantic
Two years after the disaster 0 deaths $450 million
Tropical Storm Ophelia made landfall near Emerald Isle, North Carolina, on September 23, 2023. It brought wind, storm surge, and flooding to riverfront towns including New Bern, Belhaven, and Washington. Tens of thousands of customers in North Carolina and Virginia lost power.
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7. Hurricane Lee (September 2023) — New England
Two years after the disaster 4 deaths $50 million
Hurricane Lee rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm over very warm Atlantic water, then weakened and became post-tropical before its closest approach to the United States. On September 16, 2023, it passed about 50 miles from Eastport, Maine, and made landfall on Long Island, Nova Scotia. Wind, coastal flooding, and downed trees cut power across coastal Maine. One person died in Searsport, Maine.
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6. Hurricane Idalia (August 2023) — Florida Big Bend / Georgia
Two years after the disaster 12 deaths $3.6 billion
Hurricane Idalia made landfall near Keaton Beach, Florida, on August 30, 2023, as a Category 3 hurricane. It brought destructive wind, storm surge, and flooding to the Big Bend, then major flooding across southern Georgia.
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5. Tropical Storm Hilary (August 2023) — Southern California / Southwest
Two years after the disaster 1 death $900 million
Tropical Storm Hilary hit Baja California on August 20, 2023, then moved into Southern California. It brought heavy rain, flooding, mudslides, and power outages to the desert Southwest. California issued its first tropical-storm watches.
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4. Lahaina Wildfire (August 2023)
Two years after the disaster 102 deaths $7 billion
On August 8, 2023, a wind-driven wildfire tore through Lahaina, Maui. By the next day it was a national story: the historic town was destroyed, and people had died. Hurricane Dora, passing south of Hawaii, and high pressure to the north produced extremely strong winds. Fires in Kula and Olinda that week are part of this same event.
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3. Vermont & Northeast Flash Floods (July 2023)
Two years after the disaster 2 deaths $620 million
Slow-moving storms dropped months of rain in two days across Vermont on July 9 and 10, 2023. Roads washed out. Downtown Montpelier and Barre flooded. The state declared an emergency. The story became national news as those downtowns went underwater.
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2. Canadian Wildfire Smoke (June 2023)
Two years after the disaster 86 deaths $2.1 billion
In early June 2023, smoke from huge wildfires in Canada drifted into the United States. Most of the fires were in Quebec. More than 400 were burning, and more than 150 were out of control. The smoke made the air dangerous to breathe across the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes, and parts of the Midwest and South. On June 7, New York City briefly had the worst air of any major city in the world. Skylines turned orange. Schools canceled outdoor activities. Baseball games were postponed. Flights at LaGuardia were grounded. About 100 million Americans in 16 states were under air-quality alerts that night. AccuWeather called it the worst wildfire-smoke outbreak in the Northeast in more than 20 years. Smoke came back in waves through the summer.
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1. Fort Lauderdale / South Florida Floods (April 2023)
Two years after the disaster 0 deaths $1.1 billion
A stalled thunderstorm complex dumped extremely rare rainfall on metro Broward County on April 12, 2023. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport measured 25.91 inches in 24 hours, including about 20 inches between 4 and 10 p.m. The National Weather Service in 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. The Associated Press put the story on the national wire that afternoon and evening.