US hit by 25 reported billion-dollar climate disasters in 2023

Fire scorched the Wahikuli Terrace neighborhood in the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii/File Photo

WASHINGTON DC: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports the U.S. has seen 25 separate weather or climate “disasters” — events causing damage or losses exceeding $1 billion — so far this year, the highest number since the agency began tracking such events 43 years ago.