Megadisasters devastated America this year. They’re going to get worse.
How did that happen? Consider some of the record-breaking weather events that came our way:
• California was drenched in the wettest winter on record, ending years of drought.
• Then came California’s most destructive and largest wildfire season ever. The Tubbs Fire in Northern California killed 22 people and damaged more than 5,600 structures.
• Hurricane Harvey broke a rainfall record for a single tropical storm with more than 4 feet of rain.
• Puerto Rico is still mired in the longest blackout in US history after Hurricane Maria struck three months ago. More than 1,000 are estimated to have died in the storm and its aftermath.
• San Francisco reported its hottest temperature ever, 106 degrees Fahrenheit, while other parts of the country set records for high-temperature streaks.
• 14 places across Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas reported record-high water levels during floods in April and May.
• Requests for federal disaster aid jumped tenfold compared to 2016, with 4.7 million people registering with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As of October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had counted 15 disasters with damages topping $1 billion, tying 2017 with 2011 for the most billion-dollar disasters in a year to date. And that was before the California wildfires.