Grapevine

Nowhere in America is safe from climate-fueled storms and fires, say scientists

Forecasters had warned for days that Hurricane Helene was likely to cause widespread devastation. But when the powerful storm struck Florida and barreled through the eastern U.S. last week, killing more than 180 people and taking whole communities offline, it still managed to come as a shock.

Florida's Big Bend, where Helene made landfall, previously went decades without a hurricane strike. In the past year or so, it has now seen three. The western half of North Carolina, once held up as a haven from the worst impacts of climate change, has been paralyzed by floods.

Across the U.S., natural catastrophes are becoming more expensive and more common. Global warming is supercharging the atmosphere with more water and energy, fueling increasingly violent weather. The destructive storms, droughts, floods and wildfires are colliding with communities where millions of people live, with more costly homes and possessions—and so much more to lose.

"Pretty much 50% of the population lives within miles of the sea, more exposed to hurricanes and with an aging infrastructure that is not set for today's climate," said Mari Tye, a scientist and civil engineer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

Take North Carolina. The state only experienced one or two billion-dollar disasters—including storms, fires and floods—a year on average from 1980 to 2009. Now, the new normal is closer to six or seven, according to inflation-adjusted data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information, which catalogs economic losses from severe weather.