The United States has so far this year experienced nine separate disasters, each with an economic loss of $1 billion or more — tying the record set in 2008 – Hurricane Irene was the tipping point which now set a record breaking year for the number of $billion disasters!
Economic damage costs to date in the US exceed $35 Billion. This damage amount does not yet take into account the losses from Hurricane Irene. Here is a preliminary summary of 10 U.S. Billion dollar disasters that have occurred so far in 2011:
- Hurricane Irene, August 20-29, 2011
- Upper Midwest Flooding, Summer, 2011
- Mississippi River flooding, Spring-Summer, 2011
- Southern Plains/Southwest Drought, Heatwave, & Wildfires, Spring-Summer, 2011
- Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes, May 22-27, 2011
- Southeast/Ohio Valley/Midwest Tornadoes, April 25-30, 2011
- Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes, April 14-16, 2011
- Southeast/Midwest Tornadoes, April 8-11, 2011
- Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes, April 4-5, 2011
- Groundhog Day Blizzard, Jan 29-Feb 3, 2011
All one needs to do is consult this State Frequency map to see that the US South and South-East is the most disaster prone are of the country, with much devastation see in Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky…
State Frequency Map
NOAA’s National Weather Service taking action to build a Weather-ready nation – In partnership with other government agencies, researchers, and the private sector, the National Weather Service is charting a path to a weather-ready nation. See more details HERE