2017 the costliest year in US history for natural disasters

The previous costliest year for the US was 2005 with losses of $215 billion driven in large part by Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita.

Last year was the most expensive in US history for natural disasters, with a series of fires and hurricanes that cost $306 billion, according to a US government report Monday.

In this Dec 7, 2017 photo, a firefighter battles a wildfire as it burns along a hillside toward homes in La Conchita, California. With three strong hurricanes, wildfires, hail, flooding, tornadoes and drought, supersized weather disasters tallied a record high bill for America in 2017: $306 billion. (AP File Photo)

A total of 16 disasters cost $1 billion or more, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The previous costliest year for the US was 2005 with losses of $215 billion driven in large part by Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita.

Last year, the western wildfire season -- which ravaged large parts of California -- cost $18 billion, “tripling the previous US annual wildfire cost record,” said the report.

Hurricane Harvey, which dumped some 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain on Texas, cost $125 billion, second only to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in historical records of billion-dollar disasters, going back four decades.

Hurricane Maria, which flattened much of Puerto Rico, cost $90 billion, while Hurricane Irma, which plowed into the Caribbean and Florida, cost $50 billion.

NOAA said the number of billion-dollar disasters -- 16 -- tied with 2011 for the most in a single year.