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Toll from Weather Disasters in US This Year Hits $52 Billion
HARTFORD, Conn. - The United States had a dozen weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage this year, the greatest frequency of severe weather that caused costly losses in more than 30 years of federal government tracking.
In this Feb. 2, 2011 file photo, hundreds of cars are seen stranded on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago after a winter blizzard of historic proportions wobbled an otherwise snow-tough Chicago. America's wild weather year has hit yet another new high. (AP)
However, even with the number of events, the total losses this year from these storms, flooding and droughts is $52 billion, not even close to the most expensive year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina alone cost $145 billion in today's dollars. It was the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history, and, with more than 1,800 deaths, the highest toll in lives since the 1928 hurricane in south Florida.
The Joplin, Mo., tornado was the deadliest single tornado in 61 years, with 160 deaths, and the tornado there, along with 179 others across 15 states in late May cost $9.1 billion, with $6.5 billion in insured losses.
The disasters this year caused more than 600 deaths, NOAA said. In addition to the Groundhog Day Blizzard, Hurricane Irene and many tornadoes, drought-fueled wildfires in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona crossed the $1 billion threshold.
The increase in losses from hurricanes has more to do with how we're getting richer, more numerous, and building more properties near the beach than it does climate change, the scientists from NOAA say.
But, they add, "there is evidence that climate change may affect the frequency of certain extreme weather events. An increase in population and development in flood plains, along with an increase in heavy rain events in the U.S. during the past 50 years have gradually increased the economic losses due to flooding. If the climate continues to warm, the increase in heavy rain events is likely to continue. There are projections that the incidence of extreme droughts will increase if the climate warms throughout the 21st century."
About 343 tornadoes in 13 states in late April were the most costly disaster, with total losses greater than $10.2 billion and insured losses of $7.3 billion. Tuscaloosa, Ala., was badly hit, and 240 of the 321 deaths were in Alabama.
Close behind was a drought and heat wave across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas and western Louisiana. The total direct losses to crops, livestock and timber approach $10 billion; both direct and total economic losses will rise as the drought continues.
The weather fueled wildfires across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, with losses over $1 billion from just the fires.
Hurricane Irene cost more than $7.3 billion in damages and 45 deaths.
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33 Comments so far
Show AllWhew, I thought we were already seeing severe climate all over the world, caused by human activity. Thank you Hartford Courant for assuring us that what we are experiencing is not to much to worry about, and that the there is even some uncertainty as to if the planet will continue to warm.
Back to Business As Usual (BAU). There is a store that is only about an hour away that's having a sale on spices today. Maybe I'll drive over there this afternoon in my one ton Dodge dually and pick some up for tonights dinner.
I have read a book entitled "The Grapes of Wrath". Was that not about a climatic disaster that lasted several years?
Your point is what?
With a comment as insensitive as this one, you place yourself in the same camp as all the Republican would-be presidential clowns. One can say there's always been hurricanes, the matter is one of frequency. One can say there have always been wars, but today's wars are facilitated by a form of weaponry that's previously been unknown. Thus to try to "normalize" matters that are obviously growing in intensity suggests that you're just another obfuscator. Those who deny climate change are quite cavalier about consigning many millions to an ecological HELL. The knowledge of what's taking place, added to what's at stake, is a REQUIREMENT in order to catalyze appropriate, meaningful action. Those who tell everyone to remain calm and stay seated are no different than Jim Jones passing out the deadly Kool-aid.
NC-Tom: Astute observation.
Flavor Aid.
Jones passed out Flavor Aid.
Grape.
Noah had a flood too.
is that all you thought Grapes of Wrath was about? a weather report? poor soul.
For me, the whole novel culminates in that final scene where Rosasharn, who recently lost her baby, encounters a starving man in an abandoned barn. It's about the milk of human kindness. I so love that unforgettable book.
That book is full of great scenes. One that stood out is where the parents of children who are very obviously hungry will not ask for "Charity" because they are too proud to admit they can not provide for their own.
the best laid plans - oops, wrong book.
Didn't that have something to do with farming techniques as well, that once changed, helped ameliorate the problem?
Apples and oranges.
hm, who pins down the disaster damage dollar amount? what standard?
On a minute, human life basis, compared to the life of the earth, I'm reminded of the way a pain can strike us suddenly, then go away. But then it returns, a little worse. But that too goes away. We continue to ignore the pain when it comes because it always goes away. But then one day - WHAM! and this time it doesn't go away. We learn, to our dismay, when we finally go to the doctor to do something about this pain, that the time to do something about it had passed with the second or third pain. One day these Earth "pains" may also reach a point of no return. When will that be? Who knows. Most importantly, who cares?
Yes! We are the cancer of the earth.
The irony is this.......we're performing chemo and radiation on ourselves.
Amazing how mother nature takes care of these things.
That's a good analogy, Shadre. I've sometimes had the audacity to ask people who have been seriously handicapped by accidents and such, if they received any prior warnings. In the 3 instances where I posed this sensitive question, the answer was Yes. One guy had been on a submarine that caught fire. That was his first "life or death" warning; and then he came home on leave to find his girlfriend with another man. He took off on his motor cycle and came tearing down a mountain in North Carolina only to hit a huge truck that was making a turn at the bottom of this hill. One of the 3 cases actually took me back to the Mother's prenatal experience... it, too, factored into the murder of her beloved daughter. ----------------------------------------------------Earth Mother has shown a remarkable patience with her unruly offspring. This morning when I walked my dogs, a taste of winter finally touching down where I live, I thought of the fracking, the mountain top blast-offs, the poisoned US Gulf of Mexico, the dying forests, the bleached coral reefs, and the radiation streaming over from Japan... as so many presidential pretenders proudly clamor for more of same? I cry for the stupidity, ignorance, and abject arrogance... of these walking embodiments of human excrement. They are NOT indicative of the WHOLE of humanity. No, not by a long-shot. One need only look at the endless efforts of Green organizations, teachers of Sacred Ecology, initiatives taken by South American leaders like Evo Morales to honor The Earth in all mundane treaties to realize that many DO love the Earth, and are willing to cut back on their ecological footprints... unfortunately The Machine lies to the multitudes in order to lure them into the senseless acquisition frenzy which means they will murder the only living planet they can (as yet) call home. It's as tragic as an epoch Greek myth!
great post, Siouxrose!
They are NOT indicative of the WHOLE of humanity. No, not by a long-shot. One need only look at the endless efforts of Green organizations, teachers of Sacred Ecology, initiatives taken by South American leaders like Evo Morales to honor The Earth in all mundane treaties to realize that many DO love the Earth, and are willing to cut back on their ecological footprints... unfortunately The Machine lies to the multitudes in order to lure them into the senseless acquisition frenzy which means they will murder the only living planet they can (as yet) call home. It's as tragic as an epoch Greek myth!
i like especially the above, because we too often read, "nothin' we can do about it. it's human nature."
obviously that's not true!
Thank you, Hummingbird. I've finally begun reading the book, "The Chalice & The Blade" as some from this site recommended. I feel such a strong sense of resonance with this book, and Riane Eisler (its author) explains that the model that most take for human history, a model that incidentally sees war and competition as inevitable, does NOT reflect the truth of our deepest human roots. Her research presents a compelling challenge to the general motto that human nature is by nature, violent thus rendering war an inevitability. Not so! How often do we hear ideas framed using words like "we" and "us" when the premises are constructs that benefit a very select few? OWS is setting up new models, just as "The World Social Forum" promoted the idea that "Another World Is Possible." It's exceedingly important to break down ideological walls so that more evolved human systems can begin to emerge. Here on CD, it's amazing how many argue FOR the established systems while self-identifying as Progressive or Radical. It's actually quite comedic.
I know i was one of those suggesting you read that. I read it many years ago and it was a real eye opener. There are books that really get a person thinking about their own "Conventional wisdom" and this was one of them.
My inner thought as I read this was, "That's justice." "That's justice". "That's justice." The nation that leads the world in promoting global warming should suffer some of the consequences of global warming. I guess the major injustice is that none of these storms and floods damaged the Congress or other buildings in Washington, DC. Yet.
Walden: The recent quake to DC DID damage the Washington Monument, an interesting omen to be sure. And when Bush was prez, there were intense floods in Washington. A curator for one of the museums got a late night phone call and was forced to move the location of The Constitution (or was it Bill of Rights?), and I thought, wow, just when our nations' liberties are being washed away. Was that not right-on or what? Then, too, you could say for the U.S. War in the Gulf with its toxic D.U. trail left behind, our nation ends up with a Toxic (cor-exit/BP) Gulf of Mexico; and for our nation's messing with the fire of the gods at Los Alamos, a huge flame nearly engulfs that facility. The SIGNS are abounding, but people are taught to dismiss them. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALEPH NULL: Your posts on this topic are very helpful and appreciated.
There's a spectrum of opinion among professional researchers on winter storms, but it's starting to look like climate destabilization is introducing a pattern where more cold blows down from the Arctic into northern latitudes during the winter months, bringing snowpocalypse-scale blizzards.
A warmer atmosphere holds more water vapor. It's like a larger bucket which takes longer to fill, but dumps a more drenching load - accounting for both droughts and floods. This connection is well-established in both models and observations. Notably, the costs totaled by NOAA, as reported in the article above, do not include drought-induced losses.
Our culture is so focused on money that financial damages may be the only way for many to relate to what's going on. But emphasizing the financial angle implies that only the concerns of rich humans are worth attention. No price-tag could possibly compensate for the extinctions brought about by climate destabilization and ocean acidification.
That change in the jet stream, relative to changes over geological time, was sudden. It occurred in late 2010, through the winter of 2011, and into the unprecedented flooding and violent weather events in the Spring. It is becoming common for TV meteorologists to refer to the line between the more dynamic cold jet plunging down from the Arctic, and the warmer air from the Gulf, as the "divide", etc.
And to think, this is just the beginning. The EF5 tornado that ripped through my home town of Joplin, MO, is believed to have had an "eye" that passed over lasting as long as a minute or so. This wasn't theorized by any survivors, but rather the National Weather Service meteorologists. With winds estimated at over 255 miles per hour, that in some instances pulled pavement off of the ground, this was certainly a monster storm, and predictably will become more common.
Compared to the slam-dunk connection of global warming with droughts and floods, the causalities involved in tornadoes are much more controversial, mainly because our knowledge of tornadoes is only incipient.
Here's some discussion from the current meeting of the American Geophysical Union:
A superjet and its circulating winds carry roughly twice as much energy as a typical jet stream, [University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences Jonathan] Martin says. "When these usually separate jet streams sit atop one another, there tends to be a very strong vertical circulation, which produces clouds, precipitation and tornadoes under the right conditions."
Global Winds Could Explain Record Rains, Tornadoes
As your home town had its extraordinary tornado, we in central Texas had an extraordinary summer, one that not only smashed all records, but that many of us found absolutely shocking. I may be exaggerating slightly, though I don't think so, when I say that I believe that the highs on most days this past summer where I live were at least 5 F above the average for the date and many of them were 8 to 10 F above. And not a drop of rain. Trees were dying by the millions even before the fires. It was stunning. It was as if we were already in 2100 instead of 2011. I just cannot understand how there are so many where I live who continue to deny the existence of anthropogenic global warming. I wonder whether their lawns (what's left of them, as many have turned to dirt) have to actually ignite before they will believe it.
This may finally wake up some of the climate chaos deniers because it strikes at what they prioritize over life and everything else: money.
But I doubt it will.
Our Florida beach was just "renourished", meaning an expensive operation to dredge sand from the ocean and pump it to fill in the beaches lost to erosion. The job was completed about six months ago and we've already lost half of the new beach to erosion. Granted the daily tractor "grooming" and removal of seaweed that traps sand and builds out the beach, plus the tractor's compacting of the shoreline letting the waves in to wash away the sand, further complicates the problem. Six months from now, our new beach will be gone and our building will have to find another expensive solution, maybe a seawall. Bad weather has been the norm this year and a tiny rise in sea levels in a flat state like Florida makes a big difference. Not all humanity is responsible for our problems. It seems all our problems are caused by stupid conservatives.
"Today is Today"
with no yester, no tomorrow.
no imagined future sorrow.
I know that this isn’t exactly on topic, but since it was mentioned that the Republican candidates don’t believe in climate change I thought I would suggest a drinking game. While watching the Republican debates; anytime one of them says something absolutely stupid or idiotic, take a shot. By the end of the debate you’ll be so hammered you won’t care (or remember) what they said. You might as well since watching them sober isn’t working out so well.
"US EXTREME WEATHER COSTS: $1 BILLION PER WEEK IN 2011"
we get ours for free.
You stupid Customers!
All this property damage is not due to blowing tons of carbon up into the air and making the whole planet a greenhouse!
No! It's all your fault for building your house in a flood zone which, now just happens to be, all of Florida, The Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, The West and East Coast and "Tornado Alley" which no longer is just in the South, Nebraska, Washington DC......
Here at the Heartless Insurance Company, we are forced to deny all claims caused by your stupidity or Acts of God or War.
On a separate note, this is our most profitable year since the Heartless has been keeping records!
Thanks for the satire!
"The Joplin, Mo., tornado was the deadliest single tornado in 61 years…"
This kind of slight of hand reporting, would leave the uninformed with the impression that 61 years ago, and a day, a more singularly deadly tornado struck a city or town in the US.
The fact is, that since records have been kept, starting 61 years ago, that tornado is the deadliest.
But you'll rarely see the MSM put that in print, stating the very simple fact that…
The Joplin tornado was the single deadliest tornado on record.