Hurricane Katrina: First Hundred-Billion Dollar Storm

Photo By: NOAA

Hurricane Katrina is the first hundred-billion storm in U.S. history, according to the latest revised tally compiled by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. First reported by The Weather Channel, the report estimated the damage at $108 billion, a whopping 33% higher than the previous estimate of $81 billion.

As we all know, Katrina was especially damaging for many reasons, from its size and the location of its landfall to the failure of levies and inadequate evacuation execution and disaster relief. Forecasters have long warned, though, that hurricanes will become more damaging because more people are living on hurricane-prone coasts than ever before. That means, whether or not global warming is making storms more ferocious or frequent (there's still scientific debate on that point), the storms that hit will cause more damage by threatening more property and human life.

Here's a list of the Top 10 most expensive hurricanes in U.S. history:

1. Hurricane Katrina, 2005: $108 billion
2. Hurricane Ike, 2008: $29.5 billion
3. Hurricane Andrew, 1992: $26.5 billion
4. Hurricane Wilma, 2005: $21 billion
5. Ivan, 2004: $18.8 billion
6. Charley, 2004: $15.1 billion
7. Rita, 2005: $12 billion
8. Frances, 2004: $9.5 billion
9. Allison, 1989: $9 billion
10. Jeanne, 1999: $7.7 billion

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