Billion-dollar disasters

Midwest/Plains/Southeast Tornadoes

April 2 to 4, 1982 · Severe Storm · $1.6 billion in 2024 dollars

One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $1.6 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($483 million at the time) and 33 deaths.

What the offices filed during it

The 33 most significant severe storm episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Losses, 2024 dollars
$1.6 billion
Losses at the time
$483 million
Deaths
33

The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.

By state, as filed

StateEventsDeathsInjuriesDamage filed
Mississippi13380$100 million
Texas3611174$56 million
Missouri50228$51 million
Arkansas251490$34 million
Illinois31020$26 million
Oklahoma19030$16 million
Georgia1201$5.0 million
Tennessee1001$3.3 million
Ohio13010$2.8 million
Kentucky2000$275,000
Kansas800$25,000
Iowa800$25,000
Pennsylvania400$25,000
Louisiana1500$250
Indiana4900
Maryland1300
Minnesota400
Alabama300
North Dakota200
South Dakota200
Virginia200
Delaware100

Episode by episode

More

Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 1982Tornadoes in 1982

Sources

NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.