54% Of Deaths Directly Attributed To Tropical Cyclones Over 11-Year Period Came From Inland - i.e. Freshwater Flooding
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Many of these fatal floods were associated with tropical cyclones, which studies show have become stronger and wetter amid rising global temperatures. More than half of last year’s flood deaths — 95 total — came during Hurricane Helene, which struck southeastern states in September and was the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Though warmer oceans fuel stronger storms and rising sea levels enable greater storm surge, it is rainfall that has become the deadliest hurricane-related hazard in recent years. A Washington Post analysis of data from the National Hurricane Center found that freshwater flooding — the kind that occurs during heavy rainfall and swollen rivers — was responsible for 54 percent of all direct deaths from tropical cyclones in the United States between 2013 and 2024.
In the 50 years before that, storm surge — which occurs when high winds push seawater onto the shore — accounted for roughly half of hurricane deaths, while only 27 percent of deaths were linked to freshwater flooding.
Experts told The Post that this shifting hazard profile is probably partly due to improvements in storm surge warnings and evacuation procedures that save lives in coastal areas. But it is probably also a product of the warming oceans and atmosphere, which have allowed storms to deliver more rainfall to areas like the Texas Hill Country, hundreds of miles from the sea.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/07/08/freshwater-flood-deaths-increasing-rainfall/