Natural Disasters in 1997 Cost the U.S. $1.38 Billion--a Bargain Compared to Past Years
Storms, tornadoes and floods cost the federal government more than $1.38 billion this year in disaster relief, but that was a bargain compared to previous years.
The most expensive 1997 disaster was spring flooding in the Upper Midwest, costing $466.7 million.
By contrast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency spent $5.5 billion on the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Last year, FEMA spent $1.7 billion total.
“While we were very lucky to have escaped the immense destruction of the past few Atlantic hurricane seasons, American taxpayers still are faced with yet another year of unacceptable disaster costs,” FEMA Director James Lee Witt said in a statement.
Three disasters combined accounted for more than $1 billion of the agency’s spending this year: the Red River Valley floods that hit Minnesota and the Dakotas in early April, severe winter storms that hit Western states in January and flooding in the Ohio River Valley in March.
These three incidents produced nearly a third of 1997’s 44 declared disasters in 27 states and three Western Pacific island territories.
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