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ZDNET's key takeaways
Weather and climate disasters are costing lives and money.
Millions are displaced from their homes by natural disasters each year.
More than one in 10 never return home.
In 2024, the US experienced 27 confirmed weather and climate disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage each. Data for 2025 is harder to pin down because NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information stopped updating its Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters database, but it's reasonable to assume the year brought a similar level of destruction.
While it's easy to just focus on the cost of these disasters, there's a sterility to that that allows us to shy away from the loss of life (more than 550 people died in 2024), heartache, and disruption to life that they represent.
Also: Storms and bad weather? How to prep your tech ahead of possible emergencies
Add the effects of extreme temperatures and the increasing possibility of power outages, and there's a lot out there to keep an eye on. I live in the UK, and as I write this, the country is getting ready for a heatwave where temperatures could climb to a record-breaking 100 degrees Fahrenheit/38 degrees Celsius.
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