Missouri is the third-most disaster-prone state in the country, according to a recent analysis.
Forbes Advisor analyzed climate data to determine the most common natural disasters, as well as their frequency and how they impact states and counties across the U.S.
In the last decade, Missouri was hit by 51 climate disasters, including 39 severe storms, five floods, four droughts, and three winter storms. These disasters cost the state about $15 billion, according to Forbes Advisor. On average, there are 4.6 billion-dollar climate disasters each year.
Using data from the National Centers for Environmental Information, Forbes Advisor ranked Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Virginia and Georgia as the top five states most at risk for billion-dollar climate disasters.
There are five times as many natural disasters today as there were 50 years ago, a change driven by “climate change, more extreme weather and improved reporting,” as cited by a 2021 report from the World Meteorological Organization.
The cost of damage caused by the natural disasters has also increased. In the last five years, the U.S. averaged $18 billion per natural disaster per year, in comparison to 6.7 billion-dollar disasters per year in the 2000s, according to Forbes Advisor.
Across the country, 99 severe storms caused the highest number of billion-dollar climate disasters over the last 10 years, alongside 24 tropical cyclones, 17 floods, 10 droughts and nine wildfires.
The state’s most recent natural disaster occurred last summer in St. Louis, according to Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency, when severe flooding in July cost $87.8 million in damage — and two lives.
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