Storm damage soars in La Nina years.

When the equatorial Pacific Ocean turns cold, as it did this year, residents of the Gulf Coast and eastern states should gird themselves for some particularly bad storms.

Scientists had recognized that La Nina cooling in the Pacific aids the growth of tropical Atlantic storms, but they had not documented the costs. Tallying such numbers required adjusting damage figures for inflation and changes in coastal development. Roger A. Pielke Jr. of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., and Christopher N. Landsea of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Miami compared the adjusted damage totals for all storms since 1925.

The United States faces higher odds of getting hit by more storms packing more energy during La Nina years, conclude the scientists in the October BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. Officials can use this pattern to plan for storm damage, they suggest. They note, however, that catastrophic storms can hit in any year.