Top 10 Costliest Catastrophes, United States (1)

($ millions)

        Estimated insured property loss
Rank Date Peril Location Dollars when occurred In 2018 dollars (2)
1 Aug. 2005 Hurricane Katrina AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN $41,100 $51,882
2 Sep. 2017 Hurricane Maria (3) PR, USVI 25,000-30,000 25,600-30,700
3 Sep. 2017 Hurricane Irma (3) AL, FL, GA, NC, PR, SC, USVI 22,000-27,000 22,500-27,600
4 Aug. 2017 Hurricane Harvey (3) AL, LA, MS, NC, TN, TX 18,000-20,000 18,400-20,400
5 Sep. 2001 September 11: Fire, Explosion: World Trade Center, Pentagon terrorist attacks NY, VA 18,779 25,958
6 Oct. 2012 Hurricane Sandy CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV 18,750 20,688
7 Aug. 1992 Hurricane Andrew FL, LA 15,500 25,404
8 Jan. 1994 Northridge, CA earthquake CA 12,500 19,595
9 Sep. 2008 Hurricane Ike AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, OH, PA, TX 12,500 14,631
10 Oct. 2018 Hurricane Michael (3) AL, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA 8,000-13,000 8,000-13,000
(1) Property losses only. Excludes flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program. Ranked on dollars when occurred. As of November 20, 2019. (2) Adjusted for inflation through 2018 by the Insurance Information Institute using the GDP implicit price deflator. (3) Insurance Information Institute estimate based on data from catastrophe risk modelers, reinsurance companies, the Property Claims Services unit of Verisk Analytics, the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. These estimates are preliminary because the organizations involved periodically resurvey the events, and the severity of losses and other factors create a high level of uncertainty surrounding the ultimate loss figures. Source: Insurance Information Institute, catastrophe risk modelers, reinsurance companies, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the Property Claim Services® (PCS®) unit of ISO®, a Verisk Analytics® company, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.