US Weather Disasters Have Cost Billions in 2011

A record 10 weather disasters in the U.S. have each caused at least $1 billion in damage:

• Hurricane Irene, Aug. 20-29. Damages and deaths are still being tallied, but estimates are running more than $7 billion and close to 50 deaths from Vermont to North Carolina.

• Upper Midwest flooding, much of the summer. The Missouri and Souris Rivers overflowed in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Damages: $2 billion.

• Mississippi River flooding, spring and summer. Damages neared $4 billion as the river flooded from Tennessee south, and spillways were opened to flood rural areas to save cities along the river.

• Drought and heat wave continues in Texas, Oklahoma and neighboring states. Damage has passed the $5 billion mark.

• Tornadoes hit the Midwest and Southeast on May 22-27. The toll: 177 dead, more than $7 billion in losses. One tornado killed more than 140 people in Joplin, Missouri, making it the deadliest single twister since records were started in 1950.

• Tornadoes in the Ohio Valley, Southeast and Midwest on April. 25-30, devastating the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Toll: 32 deaths and more than $9 billion in damages.

• Tornadoes hit from Oklahoma to Pennsylvania on April 14-16. Toll: $2 billion in damage and 38 deaths, mostly in North Carolina.

• Outbreak of 59 tornadoes in Midwest and Northeast April 8-11. Damages: $2.2 billion. No deaths.

• Outbreak of 46 tornadoes in Central and Southern states April 4-5. Toll: Nine deaths and $2.3 billion in damages.

• Blizzard stretching from late January until after Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, paralyzed cities from Chicago to the Northeast. Toll: 36 deaths and more than $2 billion in damages.