Weather record tied: Most billion-dollar disasters

August 17, 2011

(AP) -- This crazy year of weather extremes has tied another record: this one for most billion-dollar weather disasters.

The says nine weather disasters this year have each caused more than $1 billion in damage. That ties 2008. And this year isn't near finished.

Weather Service Director Jack Hayes says the peak of is just starting and the United States seems overdue for a hurricane smacking the coast.

The government has been tracking billion-dollar weather disasters for 30 years and the country normally averages about three a year.

The billion-dollar disasters included two floods, five tornado outbreaks and a blizzard. This year severe thunderstorms have also cost $20 billion, double what's normal.

Hayes said his office will emphasize making the nation better prepared for weather disasters.

©2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

omatumr
Aug 17, 2011

Rank: 1 / 5 (3)
Thanks for the report.

Yes, we do seem to have experienced unusual weather and seismic activity.

How much of this perception results from increased communications about events that we had little or no information from in the past?

Unfortunately, confidence in government reports has been damaged by well-documented misleading information about CO2-induced global warming.

With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA Principal
Investigator for Apollo

Rank 5 /5 (3 votes)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Yale study concludes public apathy over climate change unrelated to science literacy

Are members of the public divided about climate change because they don't understand the science behind it? If Americans knew more basic science and were more proficient in technical reasoning, would public consensus match ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created 32 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 2 | with audio podcast

10 million years needed to recover from mass extinction

It took some 10 million years for Earth to recover from the greatest mass extinction of all time, latest research has revealed.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 33 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Sophisticated simulations predict future warming

The chances of our planet being hit by a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is as likely as it being hit by an increase of 1.4 degrees, new research shows. Presented in the journal Nature Geoscience, the British study ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 22, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 51

Aliens don't want to eat us, says former SETI director

Alien life probably isn’t interested in having us for dinner, enslaving us or laying eggs in our bellies, according to a recent statement by former SETI director Jill Tarter.

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 25, 2012 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (13) | comments 39

Kyoto Protocol architect 'frustrated' by climate dialogue

UN climate talks are going nowhere, as politicians dither or bicker while the pace of warming dangerously speeds up, one of the architects of the Kyoto Protocol told AFP.

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 23, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (7) | comments 39


Change in developmental timing was crucial in the evolutionary shift from dinosaurs to birds: study

At first glance, it's hard to see how a common house sparrow and a Tyrannosaurus Rex might have anything in common. After all, one is a bird that weighs less than an ounce, and the other is a dinosaur that ...

Computer model used to pinpoint prime materials for efficient carbon capture

When power plants begin capturing their carbon emissions to reduce greenhouse gases – and to most in the electric power industry, it's a question of when, not if – it will be an expensive undertaking.

'Unzipped' carbon nanotubes could help energize fuel cells, batteries

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at ...

T cells 'hunt' parasites like animal predators seek prey, study shows

By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement ...

Manufacturing genes to attack flu virus

An international research team has manufactured a new protein that can combat deadly flu epidemics.

Same gene that stunts infants' growth also makes them grow too big: research

UCLA geneticists have identified the mutation responsible for IMAGe* syndrome, a rare disorder that stunts infants' growth. The twist? The mutation occurs on the same gene that causes Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which makes ...