It’s a bragging right Texans would be happy to do without: The state was in the path of half of the country’s billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2019.

The Lone Star State claimed seven of 14 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s $1 billion disasters last year and is the only state to witness a disaster from each category the agency tracks — drought, tropical cyclone, flooding, wildfire, freeze, winter storm and severe storm.

Last year marked the fifth consecutive year that 10 or more $1 billion weather and climate disaster events impacted the United States.

“We are sort of in the crosshairs, in the intersection of tornado alley and hurricane territory,” state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon said.

Another reason that Texas tops the rankings is because of its size, large population and development in vulnerable areas, such as coasts and river flood plains.

“Compared to other states nearby, we also have a lot more infrastructure,” Nielsen-Gammon added. “We have four of the 15 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. There are not a lot of states that can say that and those don’t tend to get tornadoes or hurricanes.”

In September, remnants of Tropical Storm Imelda dumped more than 40 inches of heavy rainfall over three days in some areas, closing dozens of roadways, flooding thousands of homes and leading to five deaths.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm, displacing more than 30,000 people, causing the deaths of nearly 90 and costing about $130 billion. And before that, there was the Tax Day flood in 2016, the Memorial Day flood in 2015, Hurricane Ike in 2008, Allison in 2001, and the list goes on.

Climate change is also a major factor. The warming of the earth is playing a role in longer wildfire seasons in Western states, droughts and the potential for extreme rainfall becoming more common in eastern states, according to the agency.

Last year was the second warmest year on record, making last decade the warmest in modern history, according to NASA and NOAA. Warmer ocean and atmospheric temperatures allow additional moisture that supercharges storms.

Imelda was about twice as likely, or about 10 to 15 percent more intense, due to climate change, according to a scientific consortium known as World Weather Attribution, which includes researchers from Texas A&M University at Galveston and the University of Oxford. Harvey was about three times more likely and 15 percent more intense due to man-made climate change.

“The fact that there have been six federally declared flooding disasters in the Houston area in the last five years and that we know that these climate events are happening more intensely and more frequently helps paint a picture of why we need a resilience strategy, why there’s a need for the forthcoming climate action plan, (and) why the city is in the process of doing a climate-assessment,” said Marissa Aho, the City of Houston chief resilience officer.

More Information Climate and weather events that impacted Texas (in most cases among other states) in 2019: 1. October: Texas tornadoes and Central severe weather, $1.7 billion in estimated cost, 2 deaths 2. September: Tropical Storm Imelda, $5 billion, 5 3. July: Mississippi River, Midwest and Southern flooding, $6.2 billion, 4 4. May: Central severe weather, $1 billion, 0 5. May: South and Southeast severe weather, $1.5 billion, 0 6. April: South and Eastern tornadoes and severe weather, $1.3 billion, 7 7. March: Texas hail storm, $1.6 billion, 0 Source: NOAA National Cneters for Environmental Information

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Harvey, Aho said, is the reason why she’s here.

Since Harvey, the city and Harris County have approved millions to address flooding preparedness and mitigation, hired a resilience officer and worked on a climate action plan with the goal of becoming a carbon-neutral city by 2050 by, among other things, generating renewable energy, putting greater investment in “green infrastructure” and expanding the use of alternative modes of transportation by making it easier for people to walk, ride their bikes and use public transit.

The concept of resilience combines efforts to mitigate the effect of major disasters with addressing long-term issues, including shortages of affordable housing and economic inequality. The city expects to release its final climate action plan and a resilience strategy in the coming months.

“Investing in advance in adaptation preparedness and planning helps save us money when something strikes,” Aho said, and that’s what the city is trying to do.

“If we are suitably prepared for tornadoes and hurricanes such as being aware of evacuation routes or having supplies in place and paying attention to weather warnings, we will better off no matter what happens to frequency,” Nielsen-Gammon said.

Calling the $1 billion threshold “somewhat arbitrary,” he said it serves as a reminder that Texas is vulnerable for extreme weather and always will be.

“A better weather forecast is not going to prevent a house from being destroyed by a tornado,” he added, “but if the people in that house have gotten the warning about what’s coming and they’ve paid attention to it, it can save them.”

perla.trevizo@chron.com