Event Summary:
Hurricane Michael intensified rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall along the Florida panhandle as a Category 4 storm on Oct. 10, 2018. The most severe damage occurred in 12 counties in the panhandle, but high winds and heavy rain resulted in downed trees, structural damage, and flooding across several other counties in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

Event Summary:
On September 14, 2018, Hurricane Florence made landfall along the North Carolina coast, just north of the border between the Carolinas. For the next several days, the storm lingered over the region, causing catastrophic flooding, including prolonged significant river flooding. The federal disaster declaration included 34 counties, the majority of which were also in the impact zone of Hurricane Matthew just two years before.

Event Summary:
On July 19, 2018, a tornado outbreak occurred northeast of Des Moines, IA. Among the recorded tornadoes were an EF2 in Bondurant, which damaged several dozen homes, and an EF3 in Marshalltown, which damaged more than 1000 homes as well as multiple manufacturing plants and a downtown business district. Damage to the manufacturing plants in Marshalltown resulted in temporary and long-term unemployment for many residents in the area, including many who also experienced damage at their homes.

Event Summary:
Between July 23 and August 30, 2018, the Carr Fire burned 229,651 acres in the area in and around Redding, CA. Damage assessments estimate the fire damaged or destroyed nearly 2000 structures, including more than 1200 homes. Unusually heavy rains and even a rare heavy snowfall through the fall and winter caused additional challenges for the many people living in temporary shelter, including some still living in tents or on the streets.

Event Summary:
On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, TX. Over the next week, the storm stalled over southeast Texas, producing unprecedented rainfall and catastrophic flooding across 41 counties. Nearly 1 million households were directly affected. One year after the storm, 30% of people who were impacted by the storm reported their lives were still disrupted, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Episcopal Health Foundation, 15% of the homes damaged or destroyed by the storm were still unlivable as of the one year anniversary.

Event Summary:
On September 10, 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall as a Category 4 storm in the Florida Keys before moving up the spine of the peninsula. Nearly 2.5 million households in Florida registered for assistance with FEMA, many of whom had also suffered damage during Hurricane Matthew just 11 months before.

Event Summary:
In early September, 2017 Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, including the US Territory of Puerto Rico. Just 2 weeks later, another Category 5 storm, Hurricane Maria made a direct hit on the main island of Puerto Rico. The two storms demolished much of the infrastructure on the island, leaving nearly the entire population without access to power or clean water. Additionally, the storms destroyed several hundred thousand homes and caused thousands of deaths.

The commonwealth has a population of nearly 3.4 million people, but for several years has been experiencing dramatic migration away from the island, due in large part to a prolonged economic crisis. The hurricanes led to a mass exodus from the island, to the US Mainland.