Life was good in 2014.

For example, we saw a continuation of the previous year'srelatively low overall catastrophic damage totals, according toCoreLogic's "Natural Hazard Risk" analysis report, whichprovides a summary and analysis of the most significant naturaldisasters of the year.

The U.S. has not experienced a single natural hazard that costin the tens of billions of dollars since Superstorm Sandyravaged parts of the East Coast in 2012.

However, calling 2014 a "quiet" year is not entirely accurate,as locally devastating events can wreak major destruction and drivelosses. Late summer flooding caused widespread damage in Detroitand Phoenix, an April tornado outbreak killed dozens in the southand destroyed more than 400 homes, and an August earthquake in NapaValley had a $2 billion impact on the wine industry.

Below and on the following pages, CoreLogic details 2014's mostcatastrophic events.

Hurricanes

The 2014 hurricane season was the second consecutive year of lowtropical storm and hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean. Lastyear, there were only eight named North Atlantic storms, six ofwhich became hurricanes. And of those six, just two developed intoa major hurricane (those that are Category 3 or larger).

Hurricane Arthur, the first named storm of theseason, struck North Carolina on July 3. Because of itsslow-moving path toward the north-northeast, its damage wasrelatively minor and primarily restricted to power outages andflooding.

"No other tropical storms or hurricanes caused damage or had anyappreciable effect along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the U.S.in 2014," the report states.

The report authors hypothesized that the high levels of windshear in the Atlantic, and stable temperature and moistureconditions impeded hurricane development.

Water from Hurricane Arthur buckled a section of NorthCarolina Highway 12 on Hatteras Island, seen in a Friday, July 4,2014, photo provided by the North Carolina Department ofTransportation.

Next page: Flooding

Flooding

Damage attributed to flooding in 2014 was below average,totaling $4.2 billion in losses for the year (the long-termhistorical average in the U.S. is $5.3 billion).

These events weren't limited to one area of the U.S. in 2014,but the largest property losses took place in larger metropolitanareas. Urban damage due to flash flood events causessubstantial property loss, as a city storm water system isconnected to the sewer. Flash floods quickly overwhelm these stormwater drains and cause sewers to backup into property basements,the report says.

On Aug. 11, the Detroit Metro Airport received 4.57 inches ofrainfall, which is the second-heaviest single day of rainfall onrecord in Michigan. The flooding caused more than $1.1 billion indamage and affected 118,000 homes and businesses in the area.

Just two days later, 13.27 inches of rain fell over the courseof one day at Long Island's MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y., whichsurpassed the estimated 7 inches of rainfall that occurred duringSuperstorm Sandy and also set a one-day record for the state.

And on Sept. 8, the Phoenix metro area experienced a record-setting3.29 inches of rainfall, which caused widespread propertydamage due to Phoenix's relatively flat landscape.

Next page: Hail & tornadoevents

Hail

Despite frequent hail storms, 2014 will go down as quiet forclaims activity. Last year's hail covered the largest geographicarea in the past decade, but nearly 62% of the total hail fall wassized at less than one inch in diameter, and 96% was sized at lessthan 1.5 inches. For the largest hail sizes (greater than 3inches), last year ranked lowest on record for the past nineyears.

Knowing accurate hail sizes is just as important as knowingwhere hail occurred when considering loss, CoreLogic reports."Widespread hail fall does not always coincide with widespreadareas of larger, more severe hail."

Tornadoes

Based on data through August 2014, just 720 tornadoes wereverified through the National Weather Service's StormPrediction Center. Even if every storm report from Septemberthrough the end of the year was processed and verified, thepotential total would be 848, CoreLogic reports, which makes 2014comparable to the two previous years in terms of total tornadoesand well below busier years like 2008 and 2011.

But a low tornado count does not guarantee an absence of severephysical damage or loss of life. On April 27, residents of Mayflower and Vilonia, Ark., sufferedthrough an EF4 tornado that destroyed between 400-500 homes andclaimed 16 lives. The following day also brought severeweather conditions, damaged property and loss of life to Tennessee,Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

Next page: Sinkholes &Wildfires

Sinkholes

Although Florida is the state most well-known for sinkholeevents, it was Kentucky that experienced the most newsworthy eventin 2014. In February, a sinkhole opened underneath the floor of theNational Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Eight cars fell intothe hole, and the cost to repair the facility was estimated at morethan $3 million.

Wildfires

"The 2014 wildfire season was a series of contradictions,"CoreLogic reports. "California had more wildfire activity than everbefore, but little property loss or damage."

Despite drought conditions, which contribute to wildfire growth,2014 saw the second-fewest number of fires and the lowest wildfireacreage loss in the past 10 years. One possible explanation for thelack of wildfire damage could be that response and suppressionefforts were quick, extensive and successful, CoreLogichypothesizes. Contributing to this theory? Large-scale airplane andhelicopter mobilization efforts are effective, but expensive. InCalifornia, the response to wildfire activity depleted the state'sentire wildfire response budget in the first three months of thefiscal year.

Increased public awareness and community mitigation efforts alsocontributed to the reduction in wildfire damage. The installationof fire-resistant roofing and siding material, vent screens andother methods have proven to be effective against homeignitions.

Still, 2014 was not without loss. A total of 45,468 firesoccurred as of October 2014, consuming 3.4 million acres of land.The largest fire of the year ravaged eastern Oregon in July whenthe Buzzard Complex Fire burned through nearly 400,000 acres. InJuly, the largest fire in Washington state history (Carlton Complex Fire) covered 256,000 acres anddestroyed 322 homes.

Next page: Earthquakes

Grace Hardy cleans up wine bottles at nakedwines.com in Napafollowing Sunday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Earthquakes

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that several millionearthquakes occur in the world each year, but many go undetectedbecause they hit remote areas or have small magnitudes. TheNational Earthquake Center locates about 50 earthquakes per day, orabout 20,000 each year.

In the U.S., California, unsurprisingly, was in the spotlight in2014. A 6.8 magnitude temblor shook Humboldt County, located in thenorthwest part of the state on March 9, followed by a 4.4earthquake in the Los Angeles area on March 17. SoCal wasn'tspared, as yet another quake occurred on March 28 in the L.A.vicinity. CoreLogic estimates that damages from these three eventswere minimal.

However, the Golden State experienced its worst seismic event ofthe year when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Napa Valley on August.24, causing $2.1 billion in damage.

"Geologically, the San Francisco Bay region is underlain by manysofter soils, commonly referred to as bay mud. Historically, it hasbeen observed that softer soils amplify ground motions andcontribute to a disproportionate amount of damage," CoreLogicreports.

This event primarily caused commercial losses, damaging a numberof historic buildings in downtown Napa. Business interruptionlosses were also a major concern, due to the heavy reliance ontourism in the region. Non-structural damage, such as broken winebottles and barrels, as well as substantial sprinkler leakage, wasobserved.

Away from California, the USGS reports that the rate ofearthquakes in Oklahoma has increased by about 50% since October2013. According to the organization, 580 earthquakes of 3.0magnitude or higher happened in Oklahoma and Kansas in 2014, ascompared to the years of 1978-2008, where only two 3.0 tremorevents happened annually. The USGS reports that the increasecoincides with the injection of wastewater in deep disposalwells.