"The center noted that warming air and water temperatures due to climate change have increased the severity and frequency of extreme weather events." The center apparently is relying on old information. Or perhaps it's just being disingenuous. The "consensus" of scientists has for several years been shifting to the notion that global warming (the latest mini-cycle which began in 1970 following a 30-year cooling cycle)has ended for now. Solar activity seems to be decreasing, and global temps will decrease with it. Furthermore, the center is wrong to conflate disaster relief claims with storm severity: since 2005, hurricane activity has decreased sharply. So have tornado events in the US. "Superstorm" Sandy, for example, was neither super nor at landfall even a storm (in the meteorological sense), although the damage inflicted (self-inflicted, really) certainly belies the idea that only a major hurricane could take out NYC. Great planning, NYC! What the damage claims indicate is that asset inflation and insurance fraud are alive and well in the good old USA. Anyone personally familiar with the nature of disaster relief after a major storm (I'm thinking of Hurricanes Andrew and Hugo)has seen how folks exploit the system's vulnerability in a major crisis in order to line their pockets. Insurance companies pay these claims without investigation because: 1) they haven't the resources to do so; 2) they are being leaned on by state regulators to expedite payouts; 3) they know that a big payout will justify to state regulators big, lasting premium increases in the future.