2017 was costliest year for natural disasters in the U.S.

As most of us are working on a fresh start in 2018, many are still cleaning up from 2017.

From hurricanes to wildfires, 2017 was the most expensive year on record for natural disasters.

The National Centers for Environmental Protection says the price tag was more than $300 billion.

Here in our area, Hurricane Harvey alone cost $125 billion. That's second only to Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Irma flattened the Florida Keys in September as a Category 5 storm with high winds and strong surge. Twenty-five percent of the area's buildings were destroyed at a cost of $50 billion.

Then in December, the wildfires out west. The Thomas fire north of Los Angeles was a raging inferno, torching nearly 10 million acres.

Forty-four people died in the fires and more than 15,000 homes were destroyed. In all, $18 billion in damages.

NOAA has been tracking these storms since 1980.

Since then, the costs have reached more than $1.5 trillion.

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