Ninety percent of all counties in the United States have experienced a weather disaster over the preceding decade , and these climate - fueled events have make more than $ 740 billion in damages , according to a fresh report from the mood adaptation group Rebuild by Design .
The “ Atlas of Disaster , ” a first - of - its - form studypublished on Wednesday , analyzes a decade of Union disaster disbursal to reveal which persona of the commonwealth have been hit hardest by mood change , and which are most vulnerable to future catastrophes . The report find that the federal disaster easing system is both underfunded and ineffective : The government activity lacks the government agency and resources to help residential area fully recover after disasters , and it also spends too much money on rebuild in high-risk areas .
“ It shows unequivocally that climate variety is here and that all taxpayer are paying for it , ” said Amy Chester , the care director of Rebuild by Design . The organization start out as a federal government initiative to help the Northeastrecover from Hurricane Sandy , and is now housed at New York University ’s Institute for Public Knowledge .
A person walks down a street as residents begin the process of cleaning up the damage to their property after torrential rains caused widespread flooding during Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey on 20 May 2025 in Houston, Texas.Photo: Scott Olson (Getty Images)
country like Florida and California often draw the most attention for digest extreme climate disasters like hurricanes and wildfire , but the Rebuild by Design report reveals that almost every part of the U.S. has been touched by disaster : Nine out of 10 counties feel a flood , fire , windstorm , or other disaster severe enough to merit Union assist between 2011 and 2021 . Only the temperate Upper Midwest and the juiceless inland scope of the Great Basin largely forefend far-flung wrong .
Even that estimate is too crushed , since it leave out two major clime events : warmth and drought . Because heat wafture do n’t cause dimension scathe , they do n’t trigger federal cataclysm declarations , and federal spending on drought primarily covers major impact to craw production .
The federal government is on the hook to help rebuild after these cataclysm , and the costs of convalescence are tremendous . The Federal Emergency Management Agency , or FEMA , and the Department of Housing and Urban Development , or HUD , have together spent almost $ 100 billion on disaster recovery over the past X , and other agencies like the Department of Agriculture have spend billions more . The lion ’s portion of this money has flowed to coastal state like Louisiana , where the feds spent $ 1,736 per capita on cataclysm recovery between 2011 and 2021 , according to the new report .
As a warming macrocosm creates more severe disasters and as more people move into vulnerable areas , these costs are only go to increase . The report intimate that photoflood damages alone could be the U.S. another $ 72 billion over the next 10 years . That ’s equivalent to the combined yearly budgets of Delaware , New Hampshire , Vermont , South Dakota , Wyoming , and Alaska .
optic - pop as these number might seem , they only let in a fraction of total disaster damages . FEMA finances for rebuilding go to homeowners to repair property damage by disaster , but the agency ca n’t spend money to plow long - term crises like pollution and ocean - grade rise . tenant are also provide out of the vast bulk of these defrayal , which strangle recovery in downhearted - income areas where few people own property . HUD can provide supplemental attention for farseeing - term recuperation , but Congress must okay this funding on a case - by - causa footing , which makes itsubject to political whims .
In summation , say Chester , most disaster outlay is inefficient , and dish up to rebuild what existed before rather than make community more resilient to catastrophe .
“ How much is enough ? No one has been able-bodied to respond that question , ” said Chester . “ But we be intimate that flip money [ at ] the last violent storm is n’t a good investment . ” Chester say the solvent is to channel more money toward strategies such as flood walls , forest cutting , andvoluntary move out of torrent zone , all of which can subjugate the price of future disasters .
Even for a state as productive as the U.S. , it will be far from gentle to produce money for all that , especially give how much of the commonwealth faces close at hand cataclysm risk . Part of the reply is for Congress to fund FEMA and HUD at gamey level , but Chester says state should also take step to get up their own fund .
The report hint that DoS inflict a two - percent surcharge on all property insurance policy insurance policy to aid fund live base . Florida already imposes such a surcharge , and the U.S. could raise $ 287 billion over 10 years if every other state stick with wooing . Voter - sanction bond paper issuances like the$4 billion measurethat just passed in New York could also help complement federal aid .
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