Natural Disasters in 2014

All in all, 2014 was not as bad as it could have been for natural disasters in the United States.

Last year closed with fewer tornadoes, a mild hurricane season, lower acreage lost to wildfires, and an overall decline in flood and other damage, according to global property information and analytics firm CoreLogic, which released its annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis detailing the most significant natural disasters of 2014 and forecasts for 2015.

Some of the key findings in CoreLogic’s 2014 Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis include:

• Just as 2013 experienced a decline in the damage caused by major hazards in the U.S. when compared with 2012, the year 2014 saw a continuation of similarly low overall damage totals.
• The 2014 hurricane season marked the second consecutive year of low tropical storm and hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean.
• The amount of damage attributed to flooding in 2014 is approximately $4.2 billion in losses for the year, which is below the long-term historical average of $5.3 billion annually.
• 2014 is on track to have the fewest number of tornadoes recorded in the past decade with just 720 tornadoes verified through August and an additional 128 storm reports filed through November.
• Overall hail fall across the U.S. in 2014 covered the greatest geographical area of any year since at least 2006.
• 2014 has had the lowest amount of acreage lost to wildfire in the past 10 years. The number of fires in 2014 is slightly above the 2013 year-to-date total, but the acreage lost to wildfire was only 85 percent of 2013’s total.
• Across the globe, the year 2014 is trending towards becoming the warmest year on record, with temperatures through the first 10 months of 2014 recorded as the warmest yet.
• CoreLogic said that looking ahead to 2015, if the number or geographical extent of storms producing larger, damaging hail returns to near or above recent norms, the country will likely see a more severe hail season in 2015 and possibly higher insurance claims volume in comparison to 2013 and 2014.
• Early drought forecasts for 2015 indicate the likelihood of a continuation of drought conditions in the west. The accumulation of higher levels of dry fuel mean that the elevated risk for wildfires seen over the past few years will continue.
• The report says that it is possible that the U.S. may still have two to three years of near-average flood-related damage before the next catastrophic loss occurs, based on projections from historic data. The 2015 flood losses could total between $5-6 billion, with flash flooding events continuing to account for a large percentage of overall annual damage.