Porch.com recently conducted a study on natural disasters and their economic impact. They discovered that North Carolina ranks high in the number of natural disasters as well as costs. They analyzed the number of natural disasters in each state since 1980, where NC came in at number three behind Texas and Georgia. We do fare a bit better when it comes to much those disasters cost, slipping to number four on the list.
Among the natural disasters that have impacted North Carolina since 1980 are:
- Droughts (12)
- Flood (1)
- Freezes (3)
- Storms (35)
- Hurricanes (24)
- Wildfires (2)
- Winter Storms (15)
As far as the likelihood for each type of natural event, natural disasters naturally tend to correlate with the broader climate of each region, as you might expect. With North Carolina spanning from the ocean to the mountains that is a contributing factor as to why we experience such a wide variety of natural disasters.
The most frequently occurring natural disasters are storms. This is most likely due to the fact that storms are formed over landmass and tend to be smaller in scale. Hurricanes which are formed over water are most common in places Florida and Hawaii. We get our fair share of them in NC as well. If you live in NC what natural disasters are you most concerned about?