Disasters in US: An extreme and exhausting year Sunday,
September 4, 2011 WASHINGTON (AP) — 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