The Record-Breaking 14 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters of 2011

A string of tornadoes led to seven separate billion-dollar weather disasters, which together accounted for the biggest property damage total from severe weather in U.S. recorded history:
> The April 4-5 outbreak of 46 tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast killed 9 and cost at least $2.3 billion.
> Three days later, April 8-11, nearly 60 tornadoes swept through the central and southern U.S., causing at least $2.2 billion in damages.
> Three days after that, April 14-16, another outbreak of 160 tornadoes in the southern and central U.S. killed 38 people and caused at least $2 billion in damages.
> Barely a week later, April 25-30 saw 305 tornadoes rip through the Southeast, Midwest and Ohio Valley, killing 327 people and causing more than $9 billion in damage.
> A month later, a May 22-27 outbreak of 180 tornadoes killed 177, most of them in Joplin, Mo., and caused more than $7 billion in damages.
> Finally, a severe-weather outbreak that included tornadoes, hail and flooding July 10-14 killed two in the Midwest and cost over $1 billion.

> Related: Weird Weather: The Photoblog of Climate Change