As we approach the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive natural disasters in U.S. history, more and more communities face threats from increasingly destructive storms. Since Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in 2005, there have been 37 tropical storms or cyclones that have caused at least 1 billion dollars in damages in the United States alone. Before the 2010s, a billion-dollar storm could be expected every few years; however, of those 37 storms to impact the United States since Katrina, 29 high-impact and high-cost events occurred in the last decade alone.  

Last week saw Tropical Storm Erin rapidly intensify from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just over 24 hours. While this storm is forecast to miss the coastline by hundreds of miles, the intensity of this hurricane is expected to cause severe impacts like storm surge and flooding, strong winds, rip currents and dangerous surf across the entire east coast. 

This level of rapid intensification is becoming more common as the climate warms. Tropical cyclone intensification is in part a result of rising ocean temperatures associated with climate change, which serve as the fuel for these complex storm systems. Warmer sea surface temperatures are tied to the rapid intensification, which, in addition to posing a greater threat to communities and infrastructure, can also make forecasting and early warning systems more challenging to deploy.  

Not only is the intensity of hurricanes and tropical cyclones increasing with a warming climate, but so too is the area at risk of impact. The expanded reach of hurricanes deeper into the continental United States—reaching farther from the coast—raises the alarm for communities not traditionally impacted by these storms. Just last year, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida before traveling north to impact communities in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, leaving a path of destruction more than 500 miles from its initial landfall. 

Hurricanes and tropical cyclones have short- and long-term impacts on communities and regional economies. In the immediate, strong storms cause significant damage through high power winds, heavy rain, and flooding, impacting homes, commercial buildings, schools, and other essential spaces. Storms also disrupt the power grid, contaminate drinking water, and complicate evacuation and emergency response efforts by destroying road and bridge infrastructure. In the long term, damaged infrastructure can slow down recovery efforts and keep local economies in a depressed state. In the case of Hurricane Helene, the storm took the city of Asheville’s water treatment plant offline, contaminating the city’s water supply and depriving the residents of clean water for seven weeks.  

Some communities may take decades to recover—homes in New Orleans, Louisiana, are still boarded up from Hurricane Katrina’s landfall two decades ago. Aside from physical impacts, storms also pose a risk to the mental and emotional health of survivors, worsening existing conditions and triggering increased instances of major depressive disorders, general anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). 

Storms like Hurricane Katrina, Helene, and Erin emphasize the need for integrated adaptation, resilience, and disaster planning. Decision-makers and planners must identify vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure, regional and local economies, and communities and neighborhoods to inform both pre- and post-disaster efforts. Many communities have responded to extreme storm events by investing in both physical and policy strategies that build resilience. These strategies include: 

• Improved Coordination and Decision-Making: The Louisiana State Legislature consolidated coastal restoration and hurricane protection responsibilities under a single government authority in 2005 in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority now oversees nearly $2 billion in projects designed to improve coastal resilience, including by mitigating extreme storm risks.  

• Investments in Nature-Based Solutions for Resilience: In 2022, Florida established the Resilient Florida Grants Program to fund projects that enhance natural systems to help mitigate flood impacts, improve water quality and prevent coastal erosion. Nature-based climate resilience solutions like those supported by the Resilient Florida Grants provide multiple benefits and help stretch the impact of necessary, but limited, funding.  

• Physical Infrastructure and Built Environment Upgrades: At the local level, communities are investing in grid resilience efforts to decrease impacts from storms on energy infrastructure systems, such as burying power lines or exploring community owned and decentralized power models. Boston, Massachusetts, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and Eastport, Maine have all upgraded grid infrastructure to be able to maintain power at critical nodes in preparation for storm impacts.   

While residents in Asheville struggled with access to clean water after Hurricane Helene, the damage could have been much worse if not for smart resilience planning. In 2021, the city completed construction of an auxiliary spillway for the river’s dam. During the storm, the spillway worked as intended, ultimately preventing the dam from failing outright according to city officials.  

As more communities across the United States experience the worsening impacts of climate change, it is increasingly important to invest in solutions that produce co-benefits, like upgraded infrastructure and improved water quality, delivering high value for low cost. Multi-benefit climate resilience solutions can deliver value to businesses, communities, and municipalities by both reducing risk and improving preparedness, thereby increasing a community’s capacity to respond in the case of an extreme event.  

Robust preparation and response systems can be lifelines even when a storm doesn’t make a direct hit like Hurricane Erin. Proactive steps to build resilience to hurricanes and tropical cyclones can help ensure that when storms do make landfall, communities and businesses are equipped.