Normalized US hurricane damage estimates using area of total destruction, 1900-2018

Area of Science:

• Climatology and Disaster Risk Assessment
• Meteorology and Environmental Science

Background:

• Hurricanes are the most destructive U.S. natural disasters, with economic damage trends historically influenced by wealth increases.
• Normalization is crucial for comparing storm destructiveness across different times and locations.
• Previous evidence for increasing normalized hurricane damage since 1900 has been debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a more reliable record of normalized hurricane damage since 1900.
• To investigate the link between global warming and increasing hurricane damage trends.
• To improve risk assessments for hurricane-related disasters.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel normalization scheme based on an equivalent area of total destruction.
• Analyzed a historical record of normalized hurricane damage from 1900 onwards.
• Examined the frequency of major damage events in existing normalized damage records.

Main Results:

• The new method yielded an improved signal-to-noise ratio compared to previous normalization techniques.
• A significant positive trend in normalized hurricane damage was identified.
• This trend is attributed to detectable changes in extreme storms linked to global warming.

Conclusions:

• The equivalent area of total destruction provides a more robust measure for climate-related changes in extreme weather.
• The findings support the hypothesis that global warming is increasing hurricane destructiveness.
• This research offers a more reliable basis for hurricane disaster risk assessments.