The United States is in the middle of an expensive and dangerous cycle: extreme weather keeps breaking records, and the cost to recover keeps rising. According to NOAA, 2024 saw 27 confirmed billion-dollar disasters, ranging from hurricanes and tornadoes to wildfires and winter storms, causing an estimated $182.7 billion in damage.
We cannot afford to continue rebuilding the same way after every disaster. As natural disasters worsen, we must rethink how we build homes and communities so they are stronger, faster to construct, and more sustainable. The cost of not doing so, financially and socially, is compounding year after year.
The trend is unmistakable: disasters are growing more destructive. A recent New York Times analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data shows that average property damage from fires and severe storms is climbing. In the West, the average claim after a fire disaster rose 15 percent in the last decade, from $124,000 to $143,000 per household. In the South, storm damage has also ticked upward, with the last six years marking some of the highest averages in two decades.
At the same time, homeowners face soaring insurance costs. A National Bureau of Economic Research study found that between 2020 and 2023, a rise in disaster risk in a given area correlated with a $500 increase in insurance premiums. In some states, private insurers are pulling out altogether, leaving homeowners scrambling for coverage or priced out of protection.
This means Americans are not just paying for disaster recovery after storms and fires. They’re paying for it before the next disaster even hits.
After disasters, survivors often want to rebuild stronger and safer. But too often, they encounter barriers. Following the 2021 Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colorado, a National Science Foundation study found many builders discouraged residents from using newer, more energy-efficient technologies like heat pumps. Quotes for the same system varied wildly, from no added cost to tens of thousands of dollars extra. Similarly, builders on Maui have warned that adopting new technologies or complying with evolving regulations can be slow, expensive, and labor-intensive.
These roadblocks add insult to injury for families already coping with devastating loss. Worse, they lock communities into outdated, less resilient building methods at a time when resilience is desperately needed. If we want to avoid repeating the same cycle of destruction and costly rebuilding, we need to encourage innovation, not resist it.
Some solutions already exist. In Florida, one company is proving that sustainable, storm-resistant construction doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. RENCO, for example, has developed a composite building system that works like real-life LEGO blocks. Made from renewable materials, these interlocking blocks require no concrete mixing, heavy equipment, or construction waste. A small crew armed with mallets, glue guns, and a color-coded instruction manual can assemble buildings in record time.
At Lakewood Village, an attainable housing project in Florida, 11 unskilled workers built a 29,000 square foot structural shell in eight weeks. The system is approved to withstand Category 5 hurricane winds, and reduces construction’s carbon footprint, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The genius of this approach is speed and accessibility. After disasters, crews can assemble up to 16 homes a day, accelerating community recovery. The system also addresses a major bottleneck in rebuilding: the construction labor shortage. With immigration crackdowns and an aging workforce, finding skilled workers has become increasingly difficult. By using lightweight, easy-to-handle blocks, new workers can be trained in hours instead of years.
The urgency is clear. Each year we delay adopting more resilient building methods, the bill grows larger—for homeowners, insurers, and taxpayers alike. In the aftermath of hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, families should not be forced to choose between rebuilding quickly and rebuilding sustainably. With innovative materials and smarter building systems, we can do both.
We are already paying the price for inaction. NOAA’s tally of billion-dollar disasters does not include the hidden costs: the mental health toll on families displaced from their homes, the small businesses that never reopen, the local tax base eroded by prolonged recovery. Communities that can’t rebuild quickly risk losing residents permanently, creating ripple effects for decades.
The disasters of 2024 are not anomalies. They are previews of what’s to come. While not every weather event is tied directly to climate change, scientists agree that a warming planet makes storms stronger, wildfires more intense, and floods more destructive. The question is not whether disasters will come, but whether we will be prepared to recover when they do.
Policymakers, insurers, and builders must work together to accelerate the adoption of new building technologies. That means updating codes to allow for tested innovations, incentivizing sustainable construction, and helping communities rebuild not just to what was lost, but to something stronger.
We can continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars every year rebuilding the same fragile structures, or we can seize this moment to build smarter, faster, and more sustainably. The choice is ours. But the cost of doing nothing is only going up.
Kenneth Smuts is a licensed professional engineer with 30+ years in development, design, and construction, who spearheaded RENCO’s U.S. Building System approvals under the IBC. As RENCO USA President, he has led $5B+ in projects, holding senior roles at The Related Group and Coastal Construction, with engineering degrees from Drexel and Rutgers.
