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