Slideshow: Hurricane Sandy Tops 2012 Disasters, But More in Store for 2013

Click on the following pages for a summary of natural disaster impact.

Hurricane Sandy's impact on the New Jersey coast, October 2012.

Hurricanes

• Hurricane Sandy was the single most destructive natural disaster of the year. The Category 1 storm, which struck the northern New Jersey coast and New York City in late October, affected more than 5 million residents.
• Category 1 Hurricane Isaac was the first to make landfall in the U.S. in late August, generating an estimated $2 billion in insured losses around the New Orleans metro area. 

Read related: "The 2012 Hurricane Season: By the Numbers."

2013 projection: "While it is less likely a hurricane will approach the New York area, especially 2 years in a row, the Gulf and Atlantic coasts do experience hurricanes and tropical storms with regularity. Most of the coastal areas do not have levee systems in place, and virtually all coastal areas are attractive locations for residential development…(and) even a Category 1 storm can easily destroy or damage thousands of homes and run up billions of dollars in total damage." 

Flooding in Scarsdale, N.Y. after Hurricane Isaac, August 2012 

Floods

• Flood losses are expected to total approximately $10 billion in 2012, making it the third consecutive year of increasing flood damage in the U.S.—in large part due to Hurricane Sandy
• Outside of Hurricane Sandy, most 2012 flood events occurred below the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year flood levels. In fact, freshwater flood activity through October indicated a decline in flood losses from 2011, on par with CoreLogic historical trend analysis.
• Tropical Storm Debby, which struck the Florida peninsula in June, dropped at least 25 inches of rainfall along its path.
• After months of sustained, widespread drought, Hurricane Isaac brought heavy rainfall and flooding to Louisiana in late August before continuing northward into the Midwest. 

Read related: "Four Million U.S. Residences at Risk to Storm Surge."

2013 projection: "Based on a trend analysis of flood losses over the last 100 years, after the flood loss increases in three consecutive years from 2010 to 2012, flood disasters in 2013 will likely be trending downward compared to 2012."

 "Bambi bucket" dumping water near Ft. Collins, Colo., June 2012

Wildfires

• The 2012 wildfire season was the third most destructive on record in the U.S. in terms of total acres burned as of early December.
• The 15-year trend of fewer but larger fires continued into 2012, with fewer than 51,000 individual wildfires across the country—the lowest number recorded since 1989.
• Several of the individual fires that occurred in 2012 set records, including Colorado's Waldo Canyon Fire, which damaged or destroyed 346 homes, and New Mexico's Whitewater-Baldy Fire, which burned more than 297,000 acres.
• California's rebound in wildfires was not unexpected given that by the end of August approximately 63 percent of the U.S. was experiencing drought conditions as classified by NOAA and demonstrates the cyclical nature of wildfire activity.
• NOAA continues to predict a pattern of drought conditions through the start of 2013, suggesting the potential for another increase in wildfire risk across much of the country.

Read related: "More Than 740,000 Residences at High Risk for Wildfire Damage."

2013 projection: "Based on total acreage burned (in 2012), wildfire activity seems to be trending upward…While the actual number of wildfires has continued to decline, the amount of damage and area burned clearly has not." The threat could be exacerbated by the persistent drought conditions in more than two-thirds of the continental U.S.

A tornado makes landfall near Marquette, Kan., April 2012

Tornadoes

• Tornado activity in 2012 expanded beyond the traditional central and southern Great Plains "Tornado Alley."
• January 2012 was one of the most active Januaries since recording began in 1950, with a total of 79 tornadoes reported across the country.
• In late February, tornadoes struck Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Harrisburg, Ill., experienced the most concentrated destruction, with more than 225 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed and an estimated $475 million in total damage.

Read related: "Storm Front Hits South Central U.S. Amid Reports of Mild Tornado Year." 

2013 projection: Although tornado activity was high early in the year, drought conditions minimized the opportunity for tornado formation during midsummer 2012. With drought conditions continuing through much of the central U.S., "it is reasonable to expect that tornado activity will remain at a lower level through 2013 if these conditions persist." 

 For a complete copy of the CoreLogic study, click here.