With the crazy weather events we’ve experienced in the U.S. in recent years, including the unusual Hurricane Sandy from last week, it may come as no surprise to find out North America has been most affected by weather-related extreme events on the planet in the last 30 years.

A new study reports weather-related catastrophes in North America increased 5 times from 1980 to 2011. During the same period, other continents also increased as follows: Asia 4 times, Africa 2.5 times, Europe 2 times, and South America 1.5 times.

One factor may be the diversity of hazardous weather in North America, where we experience nearly every type of peril possible—including tropical cyclones and hurricanes, thunderstorms, winter storms, tornadoes, wildfires, droughts, and floods.

North American weather catastrophes resulted in over $1 trillion in losses (in 2011 values) and about 30,000 deaths during the time period of the study. The costliest and deadliest single event in the U.S. was 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, with losses of $125 billion (in original values) and more than 1,300 deaths.