2017 could see the most billion-dollar weather disasters in US history

Hurricane Harvey will be the 10th such event this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but the agency tracking changes in climate faces severe budget cuts under Donald Trump

Even before Hurricane Harvey began to form, out in the north Atlantic, federal climate experts signalled that 2017 was going to be a bad year for weather and climate catastrophes in America. According to scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), there had already been nine climate and weather-related events that caused more than $1bn of damage.

Related: A timeline of the billion-dollar weather disasters in the US over the past decade

Many households lack flood insurance and are at risk of losing everything. We are seeing this on an unprecedented scale

Related: Harvey shines a spotlight on a high-risk area of chemical plants in Texas