One week in March brought three billion-dollar wind disasters to about a dozen states. None of them has a name. By midyear, Illinois and Indiana had both broken all-time annual tornado records, Aon reports. A hurricane gets a name and a week of coverage. A windstorm gets a database row. Here is the bill.

1. $4.2 billion from three days of tornadoes, 10 to 12 March.
_{More than 95 tornadoes across central and southern Illinois, southern Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia (Climate Central, as of 2026-10-07)}

2. $1.9 billion from two days of wind, 13 and 14 March.
_{Gusts over 60 mph cut power to more than 500,000 customers from Wisconsin to New York. It is filed as the North Central and Northeast Synoptic Wind Event (Climate Central, as of 2026-10-07)}

3. $1.9 billion from a second tornado outbreak, 15 and 16 March.
_{More than 50 tornadoes on 15 March alone, thickest across southern Illinois, western Kentucky, northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri (Climate Central, as of 2026-10-07)}

4. About $1 billion insured, at minimum, from that second outbreak. The full cost: at least 25% more.
_{The reinsurance broker's estimate four days after the storms, once uninsured and underinsured losses are counted (Gallagher Re, via Artemis, 2026-03-20 | Aon, 2026-07-21, for the tornado records above)}

Billion-Dollar Disasters - Every Other Week

$3,012 a year is the new national average to insure a home. Premiums rose 12% in 2025 and another 2.2% in the first half of 2026, and Insurify names severe weather risk as the primary driver. (Insurify, 2026-09-15)

One billion-dollar disaster every four months in the 1980s. One every three weeks or so now. Both figures are adjusted for inflation. (New York Times, 2026-07-07)

More than $50 billion a year in severe thunderstorm losses, three years running. From 2023 to 2025, annual losses ran at more than double the level of a decade earlier, and hail did 60 to 80% of the damage. (Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, via High Country News, 2026-09-24)

Every flood leaves water inside buildings, and the EPA gives you 24 to 48 hours to dry it out before mold moves in. The water leaves in a day. The bill takes years. (EPA)

The repair: Remediation averages $2,368, and $10,000 to $30,000 for a whole house, according to Angi. In North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, Grist found that a $5,000 cleanup left to wait can grow into a $30,000 one. (Angi, 2026-07-09 | Grist, 2026-02-25)

The landlords: Insurance premiums are up 300% or more, says the CEO of Local Initiatives Support Corp. A Las Vegas jury awarded one family $6.6 million in February. Defending a mold claim without insurance costs an owner $50,000 to $100,000. (Bisnow, 2026-09-20)

The wait: Most FEMA help ends after 18 months. The federal housing grants that pay for long-term repair take an average of 20 months to start paying out. After the 2014 storms and flooding in southeast Michigan, that money was never allocated at all. (Urban Institute, 2021-01-25)

TLDR: The water is gone in a day. The mold can start within two. The money to fix it takes twenty months, when it comes at all.

America: From Sea to Rising Sea

Washington: $191.4 million on one fire and $151.3 million on another. Little Giant has burned 172,904 acres and 40 structures. Sinlahekin has burned 166,007 acres and 33 structures. Both are more than 90% contained and still running up cost. (National Interagency Coordination Center, 2026-10-06)

Indiana: $92,727,783.36 in FEMA aid to households after August's derecho and flooding. 46,911 people had registered by 17 September. The state's own relief fund is paying an average of $3,962.03 against a $5,000 cap. (Indiana Department of Homeland Security, 2026-09-18)

New York: More than $168 million in blizzard damage, and FEMA said no. The agency formally denied a major disaster declaration for February's storm, which hit the Mid-Hudson, New York City and Long Island. (Mid Hudson News, 2026-09-03)

Colorado: More than $90 million in FEMA money, released after months of delay. Roughly $62 million is hazard mitigation and more than $28 million is public assistance, some of it for disasters dating back to 2013. None of it addresses this year's. (Colorado Public Radio, 2026-09-16)

What's Straining the Grid and Our Wallets

More than $15 billion is what ComEd says it needs to raise from Illinois customers. The utility cites rising demand and storms that keep getting worse. The lights still went out in 2.4 million homes during storms this year. (Chicago Sun-Times, 2026-09-02)

$309 million to fix the storm sewers in one Michigan city of about 50,000. An East Lansing study found its pipes often cannot handle modern storms, which have flooded streets and basements. One speaker did the division for the council: about $6,000 a person. Nothing is approved yet. (East Lansing Info, 2026-09-17)

$105 more to cool a home in 2024 than in 2018. That is the average across 376 counties from California to Florida. In the hardest-hit California counties, rate hikes drove 87% to 94% of the rise and hotter weather 6% to 14%. (Duke University, 2026-08)

Weather is coming, and it keeps getting more expensive. Track the totals at BadForecast.com

Executive Editor: Sierra Lindsey Kos · Editor: Jess McIntosh