Weather disasters cost $344 billion in 2017, the most expensive year ever
A new report from a reinsurance company tallies the total global economic cost of last year’s many disasters, and these photos capture the devastation
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extreme weather
Tropical storm Rina was the 17th named storm of the year, and that’s rare
Have you ever wondered how a hurricane gets its name? Or who chooses names like Harvey, Irma, and Jose?
’It looked like a spaceship’: What it’s like to be caught in a sandstorm
‘It hurts tremendously. Imagine being sandblasted.’
’Run! It’s coming this way’: What it’s like at the centre of a tornado
‘My husband had to pry her hand away from that table. She never did hear me screaming for her.’
’It came right through the shop’: How to endure a B.C. mudslide
‘An eight-foot wide creek that wasn’t there before was now in my backyard’
’This is like a living thing’: How it feels to escape a wildfire
‘It’s absolutely beautiful and absolutely terrifying at the same time’
’I felt awe and fear’: New Orleans in the middle of Katrina
‘We would see a piece of someone’s roof fly by. We could see a tree fly by.’
’You don’t know what’s under your feet’: How to survive a North Pole storm
‘When it blows that much, the snow can cover open water’
How storm surges, landslides and tornadoes can make hurricanes even more dangerous
Climatologist David Phillips explains how hurricanes can trigger more natural disasters, which make recovery that much more difficult for devastated areas.
