As record-breaking heatwaves, severe storms, and wildfires dominate the headlines, many Americans are taking steps to protect their homes from these extreme weather conditions.
To help people prepare for various weather events, Yelp has released its inaugural Weather Report.
The report analyzes Yelp data on consumer searches related to flooding, fire protection, home insurance, and air conditioning repairs.
These findings show a noticeable increase in searches for weather-related services, indicating how users are adapting to extreme weather conditions.
With 2023 being the hottest year on record, air conditioning repairs saw an 80% increase in searches on Yelp from May 2023 to April 2024 compared to May 2019 to April 2020.
The demand for air conditioning installations rose nationwide, with significant increases in cities like Anchorage, Alaska (up 633%), Cleveland (up 775%), Savannah, GA (up 300%), New Orleans (up 114%), and Cincinnati (up 100%).
Additionally, searches for pool installations increased by 80%, and solar panel searches rose by 105%, reflecting a growing interest in sustainable energy solutions.
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning cleaning (HVAC) searches also rose by 47%.
Regional storms, including tornadoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, and heavy rainfall, have led to a surge in flood cleanup searches, which rose by 505% nationally.
Cities experiencing significant increases in flooding-related searches include Providence, RI (up 3,725%), New York (up 853%), Los Angeles (up 235%), Sarasota, FL (up 171%), and Miami (up 100%).
As the hurricane season approaches, Yelp data shows increased searches for storm windows (up 50%), hurricane windows (up 89%), waterproofing services (up 52%), roof repairs (up 54%), and sump pumps (up 146%).
Wildfires and poor air quality in 2023 affected many regions, leading to a rise in searches for fire protection services (up 133%) and fire insurance (up 27%).
Cold winter temperatures also prompted an increase in searches for winterization services, which rose by 43%, and snow removal services, which increased by 81%.
In Texas, cities like San Antonio and Dallas saw winterization searches increase by 550% and 229%, respectively.
