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From fires to floods to tornadoes , 2011 has already racked up a record - tie nine weather disasters that caused at least $ 1 billion in damage each .
The pricy weather disasters in the United States since 1980 were analyzed in a account by the National Climatic Data Center , which normalized the price add up to 2011 value . allot to the story , 108weather - related disastersproduced overall damage that reach or exceeded $ 1 billion . All together , those weather events caused more than $ 750 billion in damages .
Billion-dollar weather events, 1980-2010. Credit: NCDC.
Already in 2011 , the number of billion - dollar bill conditions disastershas matched the total from 2008 , andhurricane season has yet to hit full stride . Could 2011 surpass the 2008 record book ?
" Impossible to predict , " said the NCDC ’s Scott Stephens . " An dynamic Atlantic hurricane season does not necessarily equate to hurricane landfalls or hits along the U.S. coastline . "
That was the lawsuit last year , which get a line 19 named storms ( includingtropical violent storm and hurricane ) but no hurricanes hit the United States . On the impudent side , in 1992 there were only seven storms , but one of those was Hurricane Andrew , the Category 5 hurricane that hit South Florida and one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history .
Billion-dollar weather events, 1980-2010. Credit: NCDC.
All it takes is one big tempest hitting the wrong place to create tremendous damage , fighting time of year or not , Stephens tell apart OurAmazingPlanet .
Here are the nine U.S. billion - dollar disasters of 2011 , which so far have combined to do $ 35 billion in damages :
Upper Midwest flooding , summer : Melting of an above - average snowpack across the northern Rocky Mountains , fuse with above - fair haste , caused the Missouri and Souris rivers to tumefy beyond their banks across the Upper Midwest . An estimated 11,000 people were forced to evacuate Minot , N.D. , due to the record mellow level of the Souris River . legion levee were break along the Missouri River , flood 1000 of Akko of ploughland . The flooding , which is ongoing , has caused more than $ 2 billion in damage .
Mississippi River flooding , leaping - summer : Persistent rainfall ( nearly triple the normal precipitation amount in the Ohio Valley ) , combined with melt snowpack , make historicalflooding along the Mississippi Riverand its tributaries . The region suffer $ 2 billion to $ 4 billion in losses . At least two masses died .
Southern Plains / Southwest drouth , estrus wafture and wildfires , spring - summertime : Drought , passion wafture , and wildfires char through Texas , Oklahoma , New Mexico , Arizona , southerly Kansas , western Arkansas and Louisiana this year . In Texas and Oklahoma , respectively , 75 percentage and 63 percentage of range and pasture conditions were classified as " very short " as of mid - August . Wildfire fighting cost for the region are about $ 1 million per day . Well over $ 5 billion in damage has been done so far , with over 2,000 homes and structure lost .
Midwest / Southeast crack cocaine , May 22 - 27 : Central and southern states saw approximately 180 twisters and 177 death within a week . A tornado rated EF-5 on the crack damage ordered series struck Joplin , Mo. , resulting in at least 141 deaths , making it the deadliest individual tornado to strike the United States since modern crack cocaine record keeping began in 1950 . The total loss were greater than $ 7 billion .
Southeast / Ohio Valley / Midwest crack cocaine , April 25 - 30 : This irruption oftornadoes over central and southerly statesled to 327 deaths . Of those fatalities , 240 happen in Alabama . The deadliest of the estimated 305 tornadoes in the eruption was an EF-5 that hit northern Alabama , killing 78 citizenry . Several major metropolitan areas were directly affected by warm tornado , including Tuscaloosa , Birmingham and Huntsville , Ala. , and Chattanooga , Tenn. Total losses exceeded $ 9 billion .
Midwest / Southeast crack cocaine , April 14 - 16 : An irruption over central and southern states create an estimated 160 tornado . Despite the large overall number of tornadoes , few were classified as intense , with just 14 EF-3 –and no EF-4 or EF-5 – tornado identify . Total losses were large than $ 2 billion . Thirty - eight people die , 22 of them in North Carolina .
Southeast / Midwest twister , April 8 - 11 : An outbreak of tornado over central and southern states saw an estimated 59 tornadoes . Total losses were greater than $ 2.2 billion .
Midwest / Southeast tornadoes , April 4 - 5 : An outbreak of tornadoes over cardinal and southern State Department picture an estimated 46 crack . full loss were with child than $ 2.3 billion . Nine people croak .
Groundhog Day blizzard , Jan 29 - Feb 3 : Alarge winter stormhit many central , eastern and northeastern states . Chicago was bring to a virtual standstill when 1 to 2 feet ( 0.3 to 0.6 meters ) of snow fell across the urban center . Total losses were greater than $ 2 billion . The blizzard kill 36 hoi polloi .
