Economic damages compensate for the financial losses you've incurred as a result of your injury. These include current and future medical expenses, such as hospital bills, rehabilitation costs, surgery, and prescription medications. Additionally, economic damages cover lost wages if you were unable to work due to the injury, as well as reduced earning capacity if your injury has impacted your ability to work in the future. Property damage, such as vehicle repairs in a car accident, can also be included in this category.
In the 1980s, there were 33 weather events that caused at least $1 billion in damages (inflation adjusted) - or 3.3 per year. With each decade passing, the yearly average of such events increases. In the 1990s, there were 5.7 such events per year on average, in the aughts the average was 6.7 per year, in the 2010s it was 13.1, and in the last three years it was 22 billion-dollar events per year, including 28 in 2023 - the most of any year.