This report analyzes the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Storm Database (1950–2011) to identify which types of severe weather events cause the greatest harm to population health and which produce the greatest economic damage. Population health impact is measured using the total number of injuries and fatalities. Economic impact is measured using total property and crop damage costs in U.S. dollars after converting the database damage exponents to numeric values. Results show the event types that contribute the most to health impacts and the most to economic losses, providing a data-driven view for prioritizing preparedness and mitigation efforts.
rm(list = ls())
library(dplyr)
library(ggplot2)