Climate Calamities

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks to Adam Smith, applied climatologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about billion-dollar climate and weather disasters. The podcast begins with Adam explaining his job with NOAA. Adam provides an overview of the findings from NOAA’s billion-dollar climate and weather disasters report released on 9 January 2024. Adam discusses the methodology used to create the report and emerging trends. Adam discusses the time required for post-disaster recovery. Adam then turns the conversation to explaining how the size of a municipality affects recovery dynamics. Adam concludes the podcast by discussing the consequences on the property and car insurance markets due to the frequency and intensity of these billion-dollar disasters.