Surprising Reason Why Iowa Has Lost Billions Since 1980

When a Natural Disaster strikes, it can impact entire states, the entire country, and the entire continent. They are a sad reality of life and most of the time, there's not a hell of a lot we can do to stop them. Hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, and earthquakes can all cause billions of dollars in damage.

According to Wallet Hub, there have been 9 natural disasters in 2022 that have caused repair numbers in the billions. If you take into account that we're at the beginning of the 10th month of the year, that means Americans have seen at least one, 1-billion dollar natural disaster, every month this year. Homes, cars, workplaces, businesses, and entire communities have needed to be replaced and rebuilt, somewhere in America, every month this year.

I didn't live in Iowa in August of 2020, so my views might be different compared to other Iowans but normally when I think of states that deal with the most impactful natural disasters, my brain normally thinks of the south, or southeast. I immediately think of states close to the ocean.

Now there are a lot of states in the south that have had natural disasters that have caused billions of dollars in damage but I was surprised to find that Iowa has been one of the highest-ranking states impacted by natural disasters. At least for the past 4 decades.

Wallet Hub did a study that compared all 50 states and which states have been impacted the most by natural disasters. Sadly, Iowa has found itself in the top 5.

The study used two factors to determine their findings. The first factor was The Number of Climate Disasters Causing $1Billion+ in Damage and the second was Loss Amount From Climate Disasters Causing $1Billion+ in Damage per Capita.

When it comes to the number of disasters that have caused billions in damage Iowa ranks pretty close to the middle, coming in at number 22. Where Iowa has been hit the hardest was the loss amount. Iowa ranks at number 5.

According to Wallet Hub's scoring metrics, that puts Iowa as the number 4 overall state, that's been impacted the most by natural disasters since 1980. The state that has been impacted the most by natural disasters since 1980 has been Mississippi.

Between blizzards, tornados, and flooding, Iowans are all too familiar with how natural disasters can impact a state they call home. A Cedar Rapids man who lives in Florida in the winter months, turned a GoFundMe page into something much bigger, as he heads down to help with hurricane relief efforts. His hurricane relief efforts wouldn't be possible without the help of other Iowans, who know the sad reality a natural disaster can bring with it.