The official Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November, but occasionally storms form outside those months. Seasonal hurricane forecasting from Colorado State University is available here.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a tropical cyclone is a rotating low-pressure weather system that has organized thunderstorms but no fronts, Hurricanes are tropical cyclones that have sustained winds of 74 mph. At this point a hurricane reaches Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which ranges from 1 to 5, based on the hurricane’s intensity at the time of landfall at the location experiencing the strongest winds. The scale provides examples of the type of damage and impacts in the United States associated with winds of the indicated intensity. It does not address the potential for other hurricane-related phenomena such as storm surge, rainfall-induced floods and tornadoes.
Costliest U.S. Hurricanes
The chart below shows insured losses in dollars for the top 10 costliest hurricanes in the United States when they occurred and in 2023 dollars adjusted for inflation. According to Aon, Katrina was the costliest hurricane on record, causing $65 billion in insured losses in 2005, including losses from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Losses from Katrina totaled $101.9 billion in 2023 dollars.
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Estimated insured loss |
| Rank |
Year |
Hurricane |
Dollars when occurred |
In 2024 dollars (2) |
| 1 |
2005 |
Hurricane Katrina |
$65,000 |
$104,471 |
| 2 |
2022 |
Hurricane Ian |
54,000 |
57,231 |
| 3 |
2021 |
Hurricane Ida |
36,000 |
41,540 |
| 4 |
2012 |
Hurricane Sandy |
30,000 |
40,939 |
| 5 |
2017 |
Hurricane Harvey |
30,000 |
38,571 |
| 6 |
2017 |
Hurricane Irma |
30,050 |
38,432 |
| 7 |
2017 |
Hurricane Maria |
29,511 |
37,743 |
| 8 |
1992 |
Hurricane Andrew |
16,000 |
35,845 |
| 9 |
2008 |
Hurricane Ike |
18,200 |
26,259 |
| 10 |
2024 |
Hurricane Milton |
20,000 |
20,000 |
(1) Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of January 2025.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. Consumer Price Index.
Source: Aon.
| Year |
Total
hurricanes (2) |
Made landfall
as hurricane
in the U.S. |
Deaths (3) |
| 2000 |
8 |
0 |
4 |
| 2005 |
15 |
7 |
1,518 |
| 2006 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| 2007 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
| 2008 |
8 |
4 (4) |
41 |
| 2009 |
3 |
1 (5) |
6 |
| 2010 |
12 |
0 |
11 |
| 2011 |
7 |
1 |
44 |
| 2012 |
10 |
1 (6) |
83 |
| 2013 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| 2014 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
| 2015 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
| 2016 |
7 |
3 |
36 |
| 2017 |
10 |
4 |
147 (7) |
| 2018 |
8 |
2 |
48 |
| 2019 |
6 |
2 |
15 (8) |
| 2020 |
13 |
6 |
47 |
| 2021 |
7 |
4 |
68 |
| 2022 |
8 |
3 (9) |
78 |
(1) Data is at the time of initial reporting for each respective year. An accurate death toll may be unknown at time of initial reporting.
(2) Atlantic Basin.
(3) Includes fatalities from high winds of less than hurricane force from tropical storms.
(4) Includes one hurricane (Hanna) which made landfall as a tropical storm.
(5) Hurricane Ida, which made landfall as a tropical storm.
(6) Excludes Hurricane Sandy which made landfall as a post-tropical storm.
(7) On August 28, 2018, the Puerto Rico Government revised the official death toll from Hurricane Maria to 2,975 deaths based on independent research conducted by George Washington University.
(8) All fatalities in 2019 are from storms that did not make landfall in the United States.
(9) Excludes Hurricane Bonnie which did not reach hurricane status in the Atlantic.
Source: Insurance Information Institute from data supplied by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center.
| Rank |
Date |
Event |
Number of
paid losses |
Amount paid
when occurred
($ millions) |
Amount paid
in 2024 dollars
($ millions) |
Average paid loss
in 2024 dollars |
| 1 |
Aug. 2005 |
Hurricane Katrina |
168,200 |
$16,330 |
$26,247 |
$156,046 |
| 2 |
Oct. 2012 |
Superstorm Sandy |
132,800 |
8,967 |
12,236 |
92,139 |
| 3 |
Sep. 2017 |
Hurricane Harvey |
77,100 |
9,015 |
11,591 |
150,337 |
| 4 |
Sep. 2022 |
Hurricane Ian |
48,000 |
4,300 |
4,555 |
94,896 |
| 5 |
Sep. 2008 |
Hurricane Ike |
46,900 |
2,711 |
3,911 |
83,390 |
| 6 |
Aug. 2016 |
Louisiana severe storms and flooding |
27,600 |
2,522 |
3,305 |
119,746 |
| 7 |
Sep. 2004 |
Hurricane Ivan |
31,000 |
1,671 |
2,778 |
89,613 |
| 8 |
May 2001 |
Tropical Storm Allison |
30,900 |
1,110 |
1,968 |
63,689 |
| 9 |
Aug. 2011 |
Hurricane Irene |
43,800 |
1,344 |
1,873 |
42,763 |
| 10 |
Sep. 2024 |
Hurricane Helene |
43,700 |
1,779 |
1,779 |
40,709 |
(1) Defined by the National Flood Insurance Program as an event that produces at least 1,500 paid losses, since 1978. As of January 2025.
Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data; analysis courtesy of Aon.
| |
Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1) |
Multi-family residential
homes potentially affected (2) |
Storm surge risk level (3)
(Storm category) |
Number of units |
Number of units |
| Category 1 |
1,278,734 |
40,032 |
| Category 2 |
2,741,179 |
95,513 |
| Category 3 |
4,445,280 |
158,792 |
| Category 4 |
8,437,578 |
235,770 |
| Category 5 |
7,557,343 |
261,432 |
(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from Category 1 to Category 5. Category 1 represents the higher risk of damage from a weak hurricane; Category 5 includes Categories 1 to 4 and the low risk of damage from a Category 5 hurricane.
Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company. May not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source without prior written permission from CoreLogic.
| |
Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1) |
Multifamily residential
homes potentially affected (2) |
| Hurricane wind risk level (3) |
Number of units |
Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions) |
Number of units |
Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions) |
| Extreme |
6,366,925 |
$1,843.0 |
125,218 |
$45.9 |
| Very high or greater |
14,797,190 |
4,445.0 |
229,932 |
91.8 |
| High or greater |
22,304,482 |
7,420.5 |
661,973 |
353.8 |
| Moderate or greater |
32,084,697 |
11,085.1 |
992,979 |
559.8 |
(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from extreme to moderate or greater. The moderate or greater wind risk level encompasses all four wind risk levels.”
(4) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.
Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company. May not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source without prior written permission from CoreLogic.
| |
Single-family (1) |
| |
|
At risk for storm surge |
|
|
At risk for hurricane wind |
| Rank (2) |
Metropolitan area |
Number |
Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions) |
Rank (2) |
Metropolitan area |
Number |
Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions) |
| 1 |
New York, Newark, Jersey City |
788,261 |
$406.4 |
1 |
New York, Newark, Jersey City |
3,825,243 |
$2,145.6 |
| 2 |
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach |
746,602 |
211.4 |
2 |
Houston, The Woodlands, Sugar Land |
2,085,879 |
643.1 |
| 3 |
Tampa, St. Petersberg, Clearwater |
540,411 |
145.5 |
3 |
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach |
2,018,040 |
562.9 |
| 4 |
New Orleans, Metairie |
405,975 |
127.0 |
4 |
Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington |
1,927,600 |
862.7 |
| 5 |
Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News |
399,326 |
122.7 |
5 |
Washington DC, Arlington, Alexandria |
1,766,435 |
704.8 |
| |
Multi-family (3) |
| |
|
At risk for storm surge |
|
|
At risk for hurricane wind |
| Rank (2) |
Metropolitan area |
Number |
Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions) |
Rank (2) |
Metropolitan area |
Number |
Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions) |
| 1 |
New York, Newark, Jersey City |
111,165 |
$66.9 |
1 |
New York, Newark, Jersey City |
467,227 |
$278.1 |
| 2 |
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach |
31,428 |
9.9 |
2 |
Washington DC, Arlington, Alexandria |
100,649 |
26.5 |
| 3 |
Boston, Cambridge, Newton |
26,811 |
14.8 |
3 |
Boston, Cambridge, Newton |
82,780 |
62.2 |
| 4 |
Cape Coral, Fort Myers |
13,894 |
4.8 |
4 |
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach |
64,902 |
22.1 |
| 5 |
Tampa, St. Petersberg, Clearwater |
12,572 |
4.4 |
5 |
Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington |
59,208 |
36.1 |
(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.
(3) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.
