Natural Disasters

2011 has been a year of natural disasters. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires have ravaged the U.S. this year. As of September 6th, 1,764 tornadoes have been confirmed. Most of us probably remember the outbreak of tornadoes earlier this year (April 25-28th to be exact). 336 tornadoes were recorded in those three days (the largest outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded), four of which were strong enough to be rated EF5 (highest possible rating for a tornado). As well as the tornadoes, hurricanes are making there mark as well. With Hurricane Season in full swing, three storms have begun to brew (one in the Gulf of Mexico, and two in the Atlantic Ocean). Katia, Maria, and Nate have sprung onto weather radars only a few weeks after Hurricane Irene left the eastern seaboard with $10.1 billion dollars in total damage. On top of these hurricanes, it is estimated that the current Texas wildfire has already racked up over $1 billion dollars in total damage. With all of the major events that took place last year, and even more this year, I strongly believe that natural disasters are on the rise. The only thing that we can do is to make sure that we are prepared.