FOOTLOOSE AND…
If you thought 2017 was a general pain in the pocketbook, you were right!
Sixteen natural disasters, causing a total of $306 billion in damages, won’t soon be forgotten.
One of the biggest of the pain record setters was Hurricane Harvey in August. It cost some $25 billion.
Can’t forget the September pocket-pusher Maria, whose cost was estimated at $50 billion. Number three was Irma in September as well. She also registered at $50 billion.
The list of 16 includes the California wildfires and Colorado hail storms.
Several raging weather incidents in the south and southwest, droughts in North and South Dakota, and a Minnesota hailstorm in June that cost a paltry $2.4 billion. Bottom of the list, in March, was the single billion dollars caused by a southeast freeze.
Quick bit of history: In 1988, when precise weather records started fresh, there was just three disasters of note.
We do know that climate change is most probably a major influence these days. 2017 was the third-warmest year on record. Until our scientific colleagues come up with something new and better, we’re kind of stuck with that explanation.
