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Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report: Impact ... - Aon

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2009 United States Tornado Season Review<br />

Figure 11: United States Tornadoes Over The Last 25 Years<br />

2,000<br />

Tornadoes<br />

1,500<br />

1,000<br />

500<br />

0<br />

1985<br />

1986<br />

1987<br />

1988<br />

1989<br />

1990<br />

1991<br />

1992<br />

1993<br />

1994<br />

1995<br />

1996<br />

1997<br />

Year<br />

<strong>Aon</strong> b e n field: i m pAC t foreC AstinG<br />

After 2008’s active season, the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma counted approximately 1,109<br />

tornadoes through mid-December, compared to 1,691 in 2008, 1,093 in 2007 <strong>and</strong> a 25-year average of 1,132.<br />

2009’s count was two percent below the 25-year average <strong>and</strong> 34 percent lower than 2008’s near-record year.<br />

A total of ten killer tornadoes occurred across the United States in 2009. This total was substantially lower than<br />

2008, when 38 killer tornadoes occurred. 2009 broke the trend of the rise of tornado deaths since 2004. 2008<br />

had the highest number of tornado deaths, 128, since 1998. 2009 only recorded 22 tornado deaths, 62 percent<br />

lower than an average year of 57 deaths. Like 2008, February was the deadliest month for tornadoes, with nine<br />

lives lost. Of the 22 deaths in 2009, 12 occurred in mobile homes, eight in permanent homes, one in a vehicle<br />

<strong>and</strong> one in a commercial structure.<br />

The majority of the tornado deaths in 2009 occurred from one tornado that moved through Lone Creek,<br />

Oklahoma on February 10th. Eight people died when an EF4 tornado struck a mobile home park <strong>and</strong> moved<br />

northwest of Ardmore, Oklahoma after dark. On February 18th, an EF3 tornado killed one person <strong>and</strong><br />

destroyed a church <strong>and</strong> four mobile homes in Hickory Grove, Georgia. On April 9th, an EF3 tornado moved<br />

through the town of Mena, Arkansas <strong>and</strong> killed three people. The same storm system spawned an EF4 tornado<br />

that caused significant damage <strong>and</strong> two fatalities in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. On April 19th, an EF1 tornado<br />

destroyed a mobile home in the community of Asbury, Alabama <strong>and</strong> killed one person. On May 8th, three<br />

frame houses <strong>and</strong> numerous outbuildings were destroyed in Charity, Texas by an EF2 tornado that killed<br />

one person. Two people were killed in Madison County, Kentucky on May 8th when their mobile home was<br />

destroyed by an EF3 tornado. On May 13th, two killer tornadoes in Missouri, an EF1 near Milan <strong>and</strong> an EF2 near<br />

Kirksville, killed three people. The last killer tornado of 2009 occurred on October 9th in Washington County,<br />

Mississippi. An EF2 tornado destroyed three mobile homes <strong>and</strong> damaged 16 homes while killing one person.<br />

1998<br />

1999<br />

2000<br />

2001<br />

2002<br />

2003<br />

2004<br />

2005<br />

Normal = 1,132<br />

U.S. Tornadoes<br />

2006<br />

2007<br />

2008<br />

2009<br />

13

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