U.S. Natural Disasters: 2011 An Extreme And Exhausting Year

I was just discussing with my husband the amount of natural disasters we were experiencing. As cold as it was in Dallas for the Superbowl this past February, I doubt if we thought we would be this hot for so long this summer. This year as been the year of extremes as it relates to the weather. The scary part is we still have to get through hurricane season and the the beginning of winter.

Nature is pummeling the United States this year with extremes.

Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought. Deadly tornadoes leveling towns. Massive rivers overflowing. A billion-dollar blizzard. And now, unusual hurricane-caused flooding in Vermont.

If what's falling from the sky isn't enough, the ground shook in places that normally seem stable: Colorado and the entire East Coast. On Friday, a strong quake triggered brief tsunami warnings in Alaska. Arizona and New Mexico have broken records for wildfires.

Total weather losses top $35 billion, and that's not counting Hurricane Irene, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. There have been more than 700 U.S. disaster and weather deaths, most from the tornado outbreaks this spring.

Last year, the world seemed to go wild with natural disasters in the deadliest year in a generation. But 2010 was bad globally, and the United States mostly was spared.

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