Americans turn to the internet to beat extreme weather at home

Hillary Andrews

June 29, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.·3 min read

Americans turn to the internet to beat extreme weather at home

Recent extreme weather has prompted homeowners to harden their homes and fight back against the heat, cold, ice, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes more than ever before.

One company looked into how Americans are fighting back, and it found the battle starts on the internet. Climate scientists warn that weather will become even more extreme with climate change, which makes protecting against wildfires, wind, hail and heat waves even more pressing.

Yelp, the company that publishes crowdsourced reviews about businesses, tracked the trends by tallying their queries from May 2023 to April 2024. Analysts compared the number of times per million searches users enter the keywords compared to May 2019 to April 2020.

"Examining Yelp data on consumer searches for flooding, fire protection, home insurance, air conditioning repairs, and more, these findings reveal gradual changes in searches for weather-related service professionals in recent years, and the ways users are responding to instances of extreme and unprecedented weather," Yelp said in a statement.

Across the U.S., Yelp found an 80% jump in "air conditioning repair" and "pool installation" queries to beat the heat. "Storm prep" queries doubled, "home insurance" queries tripled while "storm door installation" quadrupled. Nationally, "flood cleanup" was up 505%.

Results from individual cities were even more eye-opening. Providence, Rhode Island's queries went up 3,726% after New England's historic floods. New York's flood queries jumped by 853%.

BEFORE-AND-AFTER PHOTOS ABOVE VERMONT SHOW SCOPE OF FLOODING DEVASTATION

After a battering series of deadly atmospheric river storms and Hurricane Hilary, flood queries in Los Angeles skyrocketed by 235%.

"Whether it’s sweltering heat or unexpected storms, recent weather conditions have shown the importance of keeping your home ready for anything," said Tara Lewis, Yelp’s Trend Expert. "Our latest report highlights the ways people are responding to extreme weather, and how you can maintain peace of mind from season to season."

SAN DIEGO FLOODWATERS PROMPT DRAMATIC RESCUES AS REGION SEES RECORD RAIN

File: Flash flooding in Thousand Palms, California during Hilary.

Even Alaska couldn't escape the heat wave in 2023, which was officially the hottest year on record globally. Anchorage searches for "air conditioner installations" rose by 633%.

Texas had the opposite problem during the winter's extended arctic blast. San Antonio searches for "winterization" soared by 550% and Dallas' by 229%.

WATCH: THIS WEEK'S FRIGID WEATHER ISN'T KEEPING PEOPLE FROM HAVING FUN

Frozen Car Wash in Austin — File: A frozen car wash in Austin, Texas.

After back to back years of the U.S. being pummeled by hurricanes, states, and not just Florida; "storm window" searches were up 50%, "hurricane windows" up 89%, "waterproofing" up 52% and "sump pumps" up by 146%.

SECOND US DEATH REPORTED AS LEE LASHES NEW ENGLAND WITH HIGH WINDS, DANGEROUS WAVES

File: Florida flooding — File: Orlando flooding from Hurricane Ian.

So far, 2024 has already endured 11 natural disasters costing at least $1 billion and the year isn't even half over. Last year a record 28 billion-dollar disasters battered America. Over the past five years, billion-dollar disasters from weather and climate extremes cost Americans a total of $616.1 billion. The 102 disasters claimed 1,996 lives.

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS COSTING US 4150 BILLION A YEAR AND COUNTING, GOVERNMENT REPORT SAYS

Waco hail — File: Hail the size of a grapefruit fell near Waco, Texas, on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.

Comparing that to the past decade shows a big increase. The U.S. saw 131 billion-dollar disasters, costing a total of $987.9 and killing 5,227 Americans in the 2010s. In just the last five years, we saw 78% of the number of disasters over those years. A repeat of 2023 would put us on a pace to double the number of billion-dollar disasters in a decade.

Original article source: Americans turn to the internet to beat extreme weather at home

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