Between damage to infrastructure (buildings, boardwalks, mass transit systems, etc.), storm surge flood damage, fresh water flood damage (from heavy rain), beach erosion, and vehicular damage, it's possible that Hurricane Irene will be another billion-dollar-plus U.S. weather disaster.
I say "another" because it would be the record-breaking 10th such weather disaster of 2011. The previous high was nine in 2008. Irene would also raise the total of billion-dollar-plus weather disasters since 1980 to 109. (For more information, see the recent NOAA press release.)
Hurricane Katrina was the worst weather disaster, both in terms of the number of fatalities (1,833) and dollar damage ($133.8 billion) since these records have started.
The costly weather disasters to date have been primarily related to tornadoes and flooding (Irene is the first Atlantic basin hurricane of the season). The list also includes a massive winter blizzard in the central and eastern U.S. and the ongoing drought and heatwave (including wildfires) in the Southern Plains and Desert Southwest.
The financial damage of the 2011 events pales in comparison to the loss of life, however, and two of the tornado outbreaks this year were among the most deadly in U.S. history.
The most deadly of the year was the late-April tornado outbreak that hit the Southeast, Midwest, and Ohio Valley. The outbreak (an estimated 305 tornadoes) was responsible for 327 deaths, including 240 in Alabama when several major metropolitan areas were struck by tornadoes. Damage estimates are at $9 billion, the most costly disaster in terms of dollars this year to date.
The Midwest and Southeast tornado outbreak less than a month later included the most deadly single U.S. tornado since at least 1950; 141 people were killed in Joplin, Missouri, and 177 people were killed in the outbreak. The dollar value is estimated at $7 billion.
Tornadoes are exceptionally dangerous in terms of potential loss of life since there is often not enough warning for victims to be able to remove themselves from danger.
Let's hope that the ample warning and media coverage of Hurricane Irene means that we're only talking about dollar damage after the storm moves away, not loss of life.
Shane Claiborne: Hurricane Irene And The Wrath Of God
God bless America. Always able to put its concerns in the right place. All the time. Always.
It is sad that some people died and that there has been property damage. However, I wonder if the same people freaking out about this storm ever think about the number of people killed by illegal alien gang bangers. Or the amount of money our economy loses each year to illegals.
What was the amount of weather disasters in 1327? How about 1818? Maybe 458 BC or 6 AD?
Please, liberals, please, read Henry Hazlett's "Economics in One Lesson." (Maybe you'll finally understand why destruction doesn't produce wealth. I know it's tough for you to figure that one out, but this will show you how.)
Heaven forbid you put aside the toxic political rhetoric for a second.
The most despicable version of this stratagem is the attack that liberals and leftists launch on some senior citizens, who dare to accept social security and Medicare, and then also dare to espouse conservative politics. Well, shame on you liberals! It's like telling slaves of the Old South that they have no right to claim their freedom, or complain about their treatment, because they accepted the housing and food provided by their masters. Admittedly the analogy is extreme, but the same principle applies: people do not forfeit their right to an opinion, or become “hypocrites,” because they were forced into certain practices that may be at odds with that opinion.