# List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes

This is a list of the costliest Atlantic hurricanes, with US$1 billion (nominal) in property damage, broadly capturing the severity of the damage each tropical cyclone has caused. The list includes tropical storms, a tropical cyclone with a peak 1-minute maximum sustained wind in the range of 39–73 mph (63–118 km/h), placing them below the 74 mph (119 km/h) minimum needed to attain hurricane status.

## History

The record of the costliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic is held jointly by hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Harvey (2017), both of which resulted in approximately $125 billion in property damage during the year they occurred. These storms are also the costliest tropical cyclones recorded worldwide. The hurricane seasons of those two hurricanes, the 2005 and 2017 Atlantic hurricane seasons, are also the second costliest, and most costly hurricane seasons recorded.
Most of the costliest Atlantic hurricanes in recorded history have peaked as major hurricanes. However, weaker tropical cyclones can still cause widespread damage. Tropical storms Alberto in 1994, Allison in 2001, Lee in 2011, Imelda in 2019 and Fred of 2021 each caused over a billion dollars in damage. As of 2023, no numbered tropical depressions have become a billion-dollar disaster.
List of costliest Atlantic hurricane seasons (as of 2025) :
| Rank | Cost | Season |
| 1 | ≥ $294.803 billion | 2017 |
| 2 | $172.297 billion | 2005 |
| 3 | $129.517 billion | 2024 |
| 4 | $117.708 billion | 2022 |
| 5 | ≥ $80.827 billion | 2021 |
| 6 | $72.341 billion | 2012 |
| 7 | $61.148 billion | 2004 |
| 8 | $54.336 billion | 2020 |
| 9 | ≥ $50.526 billion | 2018 |
| 10 | ≥ $48.855 billion | 2008 |
Flooding typically accounts for about 60% of all of a storm's damages, and this is reflected in the list with Harvey, Florence, and most recently Ida, which produced catastrophic rainfall; and with Katrina, Ike, Sandy, and Ian which produced devastating storm surges. Wind damage encompasses a large portion of storm damage as well, evidenced by Andrew, Irma, and Michael. Due to their excessive damage, the names of tropical cyclones accruing at least $1 billion in damage are usually retired by the World Meteorological Organization, but this is not always the case. Juan in 1985 was the first hurricane to cause at least a billion in damage and not be retired; its name was retired after a later usage (2003) that did not cause over a billion in damage. Since Juan, nine tropical cyclones that caused at least a billion in damage were not retired, the most notable of which being Sally in 2020 which caused at least $7.3 billion, the costliest storm not to have its name retired. As of March 21, 2024, the most recent billion-dollar hurricane to not have its name retired was Idalia in 2023.
The first hurricane to cause at least $1 billion in damage was Betsy in 1965, which caused much of its damage in southeastern Louisiana. Four years later, Camille caused over $1 billion in damage as it ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi at landfall, and Virginia after moving inland. After the 1960s, each decade saw an increase in tropical cyclones causing at least a billion in damage over the last, due to increasing urban development and population. In the 1970s, four hurricanes caused at least a billion in damage; the costliest of which was Agnes, which caused $2.1 billion in damage. The following decade featured seven hurricanes causing at least a billion in damage. In the 1990s, twelve tropical cyclones accrued at least a billion in damage, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The system greatly exceeded the damage figure of any preceding tropical cyclone, causing $27.3 billion in damage, mostly in South Florida. Nineteen tropical cyclones in the 2000s caused at least $1 billion in damage. The 2005 season had six billion-dollar hurricanes, the most of any season on record; this record was later surpassed in 2020, with eight billion-dollar hurricanes. Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Irma (2017) caused at least $1 billion in damage in four separate countries. In the 2010s, twelve storms caused at least $1 billion in damage. Hanna was the first storm of the 2020s to become a billion dollar disaster.

## Methodology

This list ranks tropical cyclones within the Atlantic that have accrued at least US$1 billion in damage, based on their nominal USD damage totals. Because the impact of inflation has not been adjusted out of these figures, they do not allow for the fact that $0.12 billion in 1965 (the earliest hurricane shown on the list) would be equivalent to $0.9 billion in 2023, or that it would require $7.4 billion in 2023 to be equivalent to $1 billion in 1965. Furthermore, the figures have not been adjusted for changes in population and wealth in coastal counties, making it hard to accurately compare the damage inflicted by hurricanes over time.
In 2018, Roger A. Pielke Jr. and Christopher Landsea published a peer-reviewed study in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability, which gave an estimate of the direct economic losses in the continental United States from 1900 to 2017 from each hurricane if that same event was to occur under contemporary (2017) societal conditions. The general formula for normalized losses $D_{2018}$ is
    $D_{2018}=D_{y}\times I_{y}\times RWPC_{y}\times P_{2018/y}$
where $D_{y}$ is reported damage in current-year US dollars, $I_{y}$ is the GDP deflator for inflation adjustment, $RWPC_{y}$ is an estimate of current-cost net stock of fixed assets and consumer durable goods to capture changes in real wealth per-capita, and $P_{2018/y}$ county population adjustment.
As the results of the Pielke / Landsea study do not extend beyond 2017, the column for normalized damage, shown in the list, is not available beyond that year.

## Overall costliest

† indicates that the storm's impact in that season did not result in its name being retired
Costliest Atlantic hurricanes :
| Name | Nominal damage (Billions USD) | Normalized damage (Billions USD) | Season | Storm classification at peak intensity | Areas affected |
| Katrina | $125.0 | $116.9 | 2005 | Category 5 hurricane | Louisiana Mississippi The Bahamas United States Gulf Coast South Florida Northeast Eastern Canada |
| Harvey | $125.0 | $62.2 | 2017 | Category 4 hurricane | Texas Louisiana South America Central America The Caribbean Yucatan Peninsula |
| Ian | $113.1 | data not available | 2022 | Category 5 hurricane | Trinidad and Tobago Venezuela Colombia ABC islands Jamaica Cayman Island Cuba Southeast United States |
| Maria | $91.6 | data not available | 2017 | Category 5 hurricane | Puerto Rico Lesser Antilles Greater Antilles Caribbean Sea Eastern United States |
| Helene | $78.7 | data not available | 2024 | Category 4 hurricane | Yucatán Peninsula Honduras Cayman Islands Cuba Southeastern United States Midwestern United States |
| Irma | $77.2 | $31.0 | 2017 | Category 5 hurricane | Lesser Antilles Greater Antilles Caribbean Sea Eastern United States |
| Ida | $75.3 | data not available | 2021 | Category 4 hurricane | Venezuela Colombia Panama Cayman Islands Cuba Southeastern United States Northeastern United States Canada |
| Sandy | $68.7 | $73.5 | 2012 | Category 3 hurricane | The Caribbean United States East Coast Eastern Canada |
| Ike | $38.0 | $35.2 | 2008 | Category 4 hurricane | Greater Antilles Texas Louisiana Midwestern United States Eastern Canada Iceland |
| Milton | $34.3 | data not available | 2024 | Category 5 hurricane | Mexico Florida The Bahamas |
| Andrew | $27.3 | $106.0 | 1992 | Category 5 hurricane | The Bahamas Florida Louisiana |
| Wilma | $26.5 | $31.9 | 2005 | Category 5 hurricane | Greater Antilles Central America Florida |
| Ivan | $26.1 | $25.9 | 2004 | Category 5 hurricane | The Caribbean Venezuela United States Gulf Coast |
| Michael | $25.5 | data not available | 2018 | Category 5 hurricane | Central America Florida Georgia United States Gulf Coast Eastern United States Eastern Canada Iberian Peninsula |
| Florence | $24.2 | data not available | 2018 | Category 4 hurricane | West Africa Cape Verde Bermuda Eastern United States Atlantic Canada |
| Laura | $23.3 | data not available | 2020 | Category 4 hurricane | Leeward Islands Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Haiti Cuba Southeastern United States |
| Rita | $18.5 | $14.9 | 2005 | Category 5 hurricane | Cuba Texas Louisiana |
| Charley | $16.9 | $26.9 | 2004 | Category 4 hurricane | Jamaica Cayman Islands Cuba Florida The Carolinas |
| Matthew | $16.5 | $8.6 | 2016 | Category 5 hurricane | Colombia Venezuela The Caribbean United States East Coast |
| Irene | $14.2 | $10.8 | 2011 | Category 3 hurricane | The Caribbean United States East Coast Eastern Canada |
| Hugo | $11.0 | $25.1 | 1989 | Category 5 hurricane | The Caribbean United States East Coast |
| Frances | $10.1 | $16.5 | 2004 | Category 4 hurricane | The Caribbean Eastern United States Ontario |
| Georges | $9.3 | <$6.0 | 1998 | Category 4 hurricane | The Caribbean United States Gulf Coast |
| Allison | $9.0 | <$6.0 | 2001 | Tropical storm | Texas Louisiana Southern United States |
| Gustav | $8.3 | <$6.0 | 2008 | Category 4 hurricane | Hispaniola Jamaica Cuba Louisiana |
| Beryl | $8.3 | data not available | 2024 | Category 5 hurricane | Barbados Venezuela Caribbean Yucatán Peninsula United States Eastern Canada |
| Jeanne | $7.9 | $13.6 | 2004 | Category 3 hurricane | The Caribbean Eastern United States |
| Sally † | $7.3 | data not available | 2020 | Category 2 hurricane | The Bahamas Florida Southeastern United States |
| Eta | $7.2 | data not available | 2020 | Category 4 hurricane | The Caribbean Central America Cuba Eastern United States |
| Floyd | $6.5 | $13.9 | 1999 | Category 4 hurricane | The Bahamas Eastern United States Atlantic Canada |
| Mitch | $6.1 | <$6.0 | 1998 | Category 5 hurricane | Central America Yucatán Peninsula South Florida |
| Isabel | $5.5 | <$6.0 | 2003 | Category 5 hurricane | Greater Antilles The Bahamas Eastern United States Ontario |
| Dorian | $5.1 | data not available | 2019 | Category 5 hurricane | The Caribbean The Bahamas Eastern United States Atlantic Canada |
| Imelda † | $5.0 | data not available | 2019 | Tropical storm | Texas Louisiana Oklahoma Arkansas |
| Fran | $5.0 | $11.1 | 1996 | Category 3 hurricane | Eastern United States Ontario |
| Isaias † | $5.0 | data not available | 2020 | Category 1 hurricane | Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Haiti Bahamas Eastern United States |
| Opal | $4.7 | $10.0 | 1995 | Category 4 hurricane | Guatemala Yucatán Peninsula Eastern United States |
| Zeta † | $4.4 | data not available | 2020 | Category 3 hurricane | Jamaica Yucatan Peninsula Louisiana Mississippi |
| Debby | $4.3 | data not available | 2024 | Category 1 hurricane | Caribbean East Coast of the United States Atlantic Canada |
| Dennis | $4.0 | <$6.0 | 2005 | Category 4 hurricane | Greater Antilles Southeastern United States |
| Stan | $3.9 | <$6.0 | 2005 | Category 1 hurricane | Mexico Central America |
| Karl † | $3.9 | <$6.0 | 2010 | Category 3 hurricane | Mexico Central America |
| Idalia † | $3.5 | data not available | 2023 | Category 4 hurricane | Yucatán Peninsula Cuba Eastern United States |
| Fiona | $3.4 | data not available | 2022 | Category 4 hurricane | Lesser Antilles Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Bahamas Turks and Caicos Islands Bermuda Eastern Canada |
| Luis | $3.3 | <$6.0 | 1995 | Category 4 hurricane | Leeward Islands Puerto Rico Bermuda |
| Isaac † | $3.1 | <$6.0 | 2012 | Category 1 hurricane | The Caribbean Eastern United States |
| Delta † | $3.0 | data not available | 2020 | Category 4 hurricane | Jamaica Cayman Islands Yucatan Peninsula Southeastern United States |
| Alicia | $3.0 | $13.6 | 1983 | Category 3 hurricane | East Texas Louisiana |
| Gilbert | $3.0 | <$6.0 | 1988 | Category 5 hurricane | Venezuela Central America Hispaniola Mexico |
| Lee † | $2.8 | <$6.0 | 2011 | Tropical storm | Louisiana Mississippi |
| Marilyn | $2.5 | <$6.0 | 1995 | Category 3 hurricane | The Caribbean Bermuda |
| Michelle | $2.4 | <$6.0 | 2001 | Category 4 hurricane | Central America Jamaica Cuba The Bahamas |
| Agnes | $2.1 | $26.0 | 1972 | Category 1 hurricane | Mexico Cuba Eastern United States |
| Joan | $2.0 | <$6.0 | 1988 | Category 4 hurricane | Lesser Antilles Colombia Venezuela Central America |
| Fifi | $1.8 | <$6.0 | 1974 | Category 2 hurricane | Jamaica Central America Mexico |
| Frederic | $1.8 | <$6.0 | 1979 | Category 4 hurricane | The Caribbean Southeastern United States |
| Dean | $1.7 | <$6.0 | 2007 | Category 5 hurricane | The Caribbean Central America |
| Dolly † | $1.6 | <$6.0 | 2008 | Category 2 hurricane | Cayman Islands Mexico Southwestern United States |
| Allen | $1.6 | <$6.0 | 1980 | Category 5 hurricane | The Caribbean Yucatán Peninsula Mexico South Texas |
| David | $1.5 | <$6.0 | 1979 | Category 5 hurricane | The Caribbean United States East Coast |
| Alex † | $1.5 | <$6.0 | 2010 | Category 2 hurricane | Central America Greater Antilles Texas |
| Juan † | $1.5 | <$6.0 | 1985 | Category 1 hurricane | United States Gulf Coast |
| Bob | $1.5 | <$6.0 | 1991 | Category 3 hurricane | United States East Coast Canada |
| Roxanne | $1.5 | <$6.0 | 1995 | Category 3 hurricane | Mexico |
| Ingrid | $1.5 | <$6.0 | 2013 | Category 1 hurricane | Mexico |
| Francine | $1.5 | data not available | 2024 | Category 2 hurricane | Eastern Mexico Gulf Coast of the United States |
| Betsy | $1.4 | <$6.0 | 1965 | Category 4 hurricane | Louisiana South Florida Caribbean |
| Camille | $1.4 | $26.4 | 1969 | Category 5 hurricane | Mississippi Louisiana Alabama Virginia Cuba |
| Iota | $1.4 | data not available | 2020 | Category 4 hurricane | Colombia Central America |
| Elena | $1.3 | <$6.0 | 1985 | Category 3 hurricane | Cuba United States Gulf Coast |
| Isidore | $1.3 | <$6.0 | 2002 | Category 3 hurricane | Cuba Yucatán Peninsula Louisiana |
| Fred † | $1.3 | data not available | 2021 | Tropical storm | Puerto Rico Hispaniola Cuba Jamaica Southeastern United States |
| Rafael | $1.3 | data not available | 2024 | Category 3 hurricane | Panama Costa Rica Colombia Jamaica Cayman Islands Cuba |
| Hanna † | $1.2 | data not available | 2020 | Category 1 hurricane | Hispaniola Cuba Gulf Coast of the United States Mexico |
| Elsa † | $1.2 | data not available | 2021 | Category 1 hurricane | Lesser Antilles Greater Antilles Venezuela Colombia East Coast of the United States Atlantic Canada |
| Lili | $1.2 | <$6.0 | 2002 | Category 4 hurricane | Lesser Antilles Greater Antilles Gulf Coast of the United States |
| Nicholas † | $1.1 | data not available | 2021 | Category 1 hurricane | Mexico Gulf Coast of the United States |
| Nicole † | $1.0 | data not available | 2022 | Category 1 hurricane | Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Bahamas South Atlantic states |
| Alberto † | $1.0 | <$6.0 | 1994 | Tropical storm | Southeastern United States |
| Bonnie † | $1.0 | <$6.0 | 1998 | Category 3 hurricane | Lesser Antilles East Coast of the United States |