#US reached 10th billion-dollar weather disaster in 2020 by end of June

By Travis Fedschun, Fox News

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A woman walks down a street lined with debris in Nashville, Tennessee after tornadoes hit the state in March.
AP

Halfway through 2020 and the billions of losses from weather disasters have added up for another year in a row.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Wednesday that through the end of June 2020, 10 separate billion-dollar disasters were recorded in the country.

“This makes 2020 the sixth consecutive calendar year where 10 or more billion-dollar weather events occurred — a new record, according to experts from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information,” the agency stated.

The 10 disasters so far in 2020 were all due to severe storms that unleashed tornadoes, damaging winds and hail across more than 30 states, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast.

A total of 80 people have died in weather disasters since January.

The deadliest and greatest amount of damage, estimated at $3 billion, was reported over Easter Sunday and the following Monday when an outbreak of at least 140 tornadoes from Texas to Maryland was reported, including 3 EF-4s, 12 EF-3s, 20 EF-2s, 77 EF-1s and 28 EF-0s.

A total of 35 deaths were linked to the severe weather outbreak on April 12 and 13. The damage was extensive and highly destructive to many homes, vehicles and businesses across more than a dozen Southeast and Eastern states.

One week after that Easter Sunday outbreak, another round of tornadoes killed four in Mississippi and two in Alabama. That same week, a total of seven people were killed after tornadoes tore through parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, splintering buildings and overturning a semi-truck on an interstate, leaving some $1.1 billion in estimated damages.

The tornado and severe weather outbreak across the Nashville area in early March were blamed for 25 deaths and $2 billion in estimated damages, including many homes, businesses, vehicles, 90 planes and numerous buildings at the Nashville airport.

So far in 2020, storms have struck in heavily populated areas, such as near Nashville. Severe weather outbreaks in the Southeast have higher odds of being deadlier than in the Plains, where the population is more spread out

An analysis of tornado destruction so far this year also shows that it’s been dark during several of the tornadoes.

According to NOAA, 2020 is also tied with 2011 and 2016 for having 10 disasters within the first six months of the year but trails the record set in 2017, which was 11 events by end of June.

In reviewing data from 1980 to 2020, weather disasters classified as severe storms make up around 15 percent of total disaster costs.

Tropical cyclones – hurricanes and tropical storms – make up over 50 percent of the costs. An above-average hurricane season forecast may push the disaster bill even higher in 2020 if the US mainland sees severe impacts.

According to NOAA, the US South, Central and Southeast regions experience a higher frequency of billion-dollar disaster events than any other region.

A worsening drought across the West and the threat of wildfires later this year may also add to disaster bills.

Data from NOAA shows that since 1980, drought has cost an estimated $252.7 billion in damages.

Wildfires in California in recent years, particularly in the fall, have also resulted in billions in damages.