List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes

This is a list of the costliest Atlantic hurricanes, with US$1 billion (nominal) in property damage, broadly capturing the severity of the damage each tropical cyclone has caused. The list includes tropical storms, a tropical cyclone with a peak 1-minute maximum sustained wind in the range of 39–73 mph (63–118 km/h), placing them below the 74 mph (119 km/h) minimum needed to attain hurricane status.

History

The record of the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic is held jointly by hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Harvey (2017), both of which resulted in approximately $125 billion in property damage during the year they occurred. These storms are also the costliest tropical cyclones recorded worldwide. The hurricane seasons of those two hurricanes, the 2005 and 2017 Atlantic hurricane seasons, are also the second costliest, and most costly hurricane seasons recorded.

Most of the costliest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history have peaked as major hurricanes. However, weaker tropical cyclones can still cause widespread damage. Tropical storms Alberto (1994), Allison (2001), Lee (2011), Imelda (2019), Fred (2021), and Arthur (2026) each caused over a billion dollars in damage. As of 2025, no numbered tropical depressions have become a billion-dollar disaster.

Flooding typically accounts for about 60% of all of a storm's damages, and this is reflected in the list with Harvey, Florence, Ida, and Helene; all which produced catastrophic rainfall; and with Katrina, Ike, Sandy, and Ian which produced devastating storm surges. Wind damage encompasses a large portion of storm damage as well, evidenced by Andrew, Irma, and Michael. Due to their excessive damage, the names of tropical cyclones accruing at least $1 billion in damage are usually retired by the World Meteorological Organization, but this is not always the case. Juan in 1985 was the first hurricane to cause at least a billion in damage and not be retired; its name was retired after a later usage (2003) that did not cause over a billion in damage. Since Juan, nine tropical cyclones that caused at least a billion in damage were not retired, the most notable of which being Sally in 2020 which caused at least $7.3 billion, the costliest storm not to have its name retired. As of 2025, the most recent billion-dollar hurricanes to not have their names retired were Debby, Francine and Rafael in 2024.

The first hurricane to cause at least $1 billion in damage was Betsy in 1965, which caused much of its damage in southeastern Louisiana. Four years later, Camille caused over $1 billion in damage as it ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi at landfall, and Virginia after moving inland. After the 1960s, each decade saw an increase in tropical cyclones causing at least a billion in damage over the last, due to increasing urban development and population. In the 1970s, four hurricanes caused at least a billion in damage; the costliest of which was Agnes, which caused $2.1 billion in damage. The following decade featured seven hurricanes causing at least a billion in damage. In the 1990s, twelve tropical cyclones accrued at least a billion in damage, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The system greatly exceeded the damage figure of any preceding tropical cyclone, causing $27.3 billion in damage, mostly in South Florida. Nineteen tropical cyclones in the 2000s caused at least $1 billion in damage. The 2005 season had six billion-dollar hurricanes, the most of any season on record; this record was later surpassed in 2020, with eight billion-dollar hurricanes. Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Irma (2017) caused at least $1 billion in damage in four separate countries. In the 2010s, twelve storms caused at least $1 billion in damage. Hanna was the first storm of the 2020s to become a billion dollar disaster.

Methodology

This list ranks tropical cyclones within the Atlantic that have accrued at least US$1 billion in damage, based on their nominal USD damage totals. Because the impact of inflation has not been adjusted out of these figures, they do not allow for the fact that $0.12 billion in 1965 (the earliest hurricane shown on the list) would be equivalent to $ billion in , or that it would require $ billion in to be equivalent to $1 billion in 1965. Furthermore, the figures have not been adjusted for changes in population and wealth in coastal counties, making it hard to accurately compare the damage inflicted by hurricanes over time.

In 2018, Roger A. Pielke Jr. and Christopher Landsea published a peer-reviewed study in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability, which gave an estimate of the direct economic losses in the continental United States from 1900 to 2017 from each hurricane if that same event was to occur under contemporary (2017) societal conditions. The general formula for normalized losses is

where is reported damage in current-year US dollars, is the GDP deflator for inflation adjustment, is an estimate of current-cost net stock of fixed assets and consumer durable goods to capture changes in real wealth per-capita, and county population adjustment.

As the results of the Pielke / Landsea study do not extend beyond 2017, the column for normalized damage, shown in the list, is not available beyond that year.

Overall costliest

indicates that the storm's impact in that season did not result in its name being retired

+ Costliest Atlantic hurricanes Name Nominal damage(Billions USD) (Billions USD) Season Storm classificationat peak intensityAreas affected References Katrina 2005 Harvey 2017 Ian 2022 Maria 2017 Helene 2024 Irma 2017 Ida 2021 Sandy 2012 Ike 2008 Milton 2024 Andrew 1992 Wilma 2005 Ivan 2004 Michael2018Florence2018 Laura 2020 Rita 2005 Charley 2004 Matthew 2016 Irene 2011 Melissa 2025 Hugo 1989 Frances 2004 Georges 1998 Beryl 2024 Allison 2001 Gustav 2008 Jeanne 2004 Sally 2020 Eta 2020 Floyd 1999 Mitch 1998 Isabel 2003 Dorian 2019Imelda 2019 Fran 1996 Isaias 2020 Opal 1995 Zeta 2020 Debby 2024 Dennis 2005 Stan 2005 Karl 2010 Idalia 2023 Fiona 2022 Luis 1995 Isaac 2012 Delta 2020 Alicia 1983 Gilbert 1988 Lee 2011 Marilyn 1995 Michelle 2001 Agnes 1972 Joan 1988 Fifi 1974 Frederic 1979 Dean 2007 Dolly 2008 Allen 1980 David 1979 Alex 2010 Juan 1985 Bob 1991 Roxanne 1995 Ingrid 2013 Betsy 1965 Camille 1969 Iota 2020 Elena 1985 Isidore 2002 Francine 2024 Fred 2021 Rafael 2024 Hanna 2020 Elsa 2021 Lili 2002 Nicholas 2021 Nicole 2022 Arthur2026 Alberto 1994 Bonnie 1998

List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes

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