2011's weather catastrophes

"To date, the United States set a record with 12 separate billion-dollar weather/climate disasters in 2011, with an aggregate damage total of approximately $52 billion. This record year breaks the previous record of nine billion-dollar weather/climate disasters in one year, which occurred in 2008. These 12 disasters alone resulted in the tragic loss of 646 lives, with the National Weather Service reporting over 1,000 deaths across all weather categories for the year." --The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Link: http://www.truth-out.org/how-now-brown-cloud-what-smog-hath-wrought/1324077646