Key Findings:
- The state suffering the most from weather-related damages is Arizona, with 1,405 fatalities in the last five years.
- Louisiana ranks third, with the costliest weather damages per person at $6K.
- Weather disasters caused 727 injuries in Kentucky, one of the highest totals recorded nationwide.
At Your Insurance Attorney, we recently conducted a nationwide study to determine which states have been hit hardest by weather-related disasters over the past five years. The results were both surprising and deeply concerning.
We found that Arizona stands out as the most severely impacted state, with 1,405 fatalities linked to hazardous weather events, more than any other state. While the total financial damage is $212.7 million, the cost per person is relatively low at $68. Still, the high number of lives lost gives Arizona the highest weather damage score in our analysis: 96.3.
Here is the summary of the findings:
| State | Total Fatalities (2020-2024) | Total Injuries (2020-2024) | Total Damage (mln $) | Damage per Person ($) | Weather Damage Score |
| Arizona | 1,405 | 36 | 212.79 | 68.91 | 96.35 |
| Alabama | 75 | 233 | 415.84 | 561.72 | 91.10 |
| Louisiana | 54 | 131 | 27,853.47 | 6,058.33 | 71.63 |
| Hawaii | 106 | 57 | 5,662.50 | 3,916.00 | 64.08 |
| Kentucky | 144 | 727 | 482.71 | 105.21 | 40.24 |
| Mississippi | 57 | 451 | 847.31 | 287.9 | 38.69 |
| Oklahoma | 31 | 493 | 666.53 | 162.84 | 28.45 |
| Tennessee | 124 | 602 | 2,320.18 | 320.96 | 24.40 |
| Missouri | 44 | 576 | 520.57 | 83.33 | 21.73 |
| Nebraska | 4 | 137 | 1,206.40 | 601.48 | 21.20 |
*You can access the full research here.
Alabama came in second, with a score of 91.1. Fatalities are significantly lower there, just 75 in the last five years, but weather events have caused 233 injuries and over $415 million in damage, translating to $561 per resident.
Louisiana ranked third with a score of 71.6, not because of the number of injuries or fatalities, but because of the staggering financial cost: $27.8 billion in total damage, or more than $6,000 per person, the highest in the country.
In fourth place is Hawaii, which recorded 106 fatalities and $5.6 billion in weather-related damage, equating to nearly $4,000 per person. That gave the state a weather damage score of 64.
Kentucky ranked fifth with a score of 40.2, driven by the highest number of weather-related injuries in the country: 727. The state also recorded 144 fatalities and $482.7 million in damages.
Coming in sixth is Mississippi, where weather disasters resulted in 451 injuries and $847 million in damage, earning the state a score of 38.6.
Oklahoma ranked seventh with a score of 28.4. It experienced slightly more injuries than Mississippi (493), but the total damages were lower at $666.5 million, or $162 per resident.
In eighth place is Tennessee, with a score of 24.4. The state saw 124 fatalities and $2.3 billion in damages—the third-highest total in our study.
Missouri took the ninth spot with 576 injuries, 44 fatalities, and $520 million in damages, earning a score of 21.7.
Nebraska rounds out the top 10 with a score of 21.2. Although the state had the lowest number of fatalities among the top 10, it still saw 137 injuries and $1.2 billion in total damage.
These findings come amid a global surge in extreme weather. In the past year alone, 58 billion-dollar weather disasters were recorded globally, with total natural disaster losses reaching $320 billion. These events aren’t just disrupting daily life, they’re fundamentally transforming how communities live, plan, and grow.
Our property damage lawyers know that the true cost of climate volatility isn’t just about lives lost or damaged property. It’s also about the widening economic and geographic divides it creates. Some states are becoming safe havens from climate disasters, while others are struggling under the weight of frequent and expensive catastrophes.
We’ll continue to share insights like these to help our communities stay informed, prepared, and protected.
