TOPSHOT - Workers and residents clear debris from a destroyed bar on San Carlos Island in Fort Myers after Hurricane Ian hit Florida, on October 1, 2022.
- Shocked Florida communities counted their dead Saturday as the full scale of the devastation came into focus, two days after Hurricane Ian tore into the coastline as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the United States. When Hurricane Ian barreled into Florida's Gulf Coast last month, it became the 15th extreme weather event in the United States this year to rack up damages totaling more than $1 billion.
In fact, 2022 marks the eighth straight year that at least 10 separate $1 billion weather-related disasters,"In the last five years , there were just 18 days on average between billion-dollar disasters—compared to 82 days in the 1980s," Climate Central, a consortium of scientists and journalists,This year's extreme weather disasters in the U.S. have resulted in over 340 deaths, NOAA said, and the final financial toll is still being tallied.