Extreme Weather 2011: By The Numbers (and Dollars)
Although it’s only August - with the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season still ahead, the United States has already tied its yearly record for billion dollar plus weather disasters. Check out some of these numbers, as reported by Reuters, via the National Weather Service:
$35 Billion: The total estimated damages from floods, tornadoes, heat waves, and drought that have occurred so far this year in the United States.
250: The approximate number of natural disasters that occurred in the US in 2010. This number was triple what is was only 20 years ago.
108: The number of weather-related disasters that have caused more than $1 billion in damage during the past 30 years.
9: The amount of natural disasters this year that have caused an economic loss of $1 billion or more.
$20 Billion: The total cost of thunderstorm losses for the first half of 2011. This cost is double the the three-year average of $10 billion for this point in time.
14-19: The total number of tropical storms and hurricanes that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has projected will occur in 2011. So far, only seven named storms have formed, none of which have been hurricanes. Tropical Storm Don was the only one to make landfall in the U.S.
Source: Reuters, National Weather Service