Nearly a quarter of a billion people have been affected by a federally declared weather-related disaster since 2006. 242 million people or nearly 4 out of every 5 people in the United States have been impacted.
Environment America has all the details in their report titled "In the Path of the Storm."
Some other amazing stats that show just how many lives are touched by severe weather of one type or another according to Environment America:
- Since 2006, weather-related disasters have been declared in every U.S. state other than South Carolina.
- More than 15 million Americans live in counties that have averaged one or more weather-related disasters per year since the beginning of 2006.
- More Americans were affected by weather-related disasters during 2011 than in any year since 2004. The number of disasters inflicting more than $1 billion in damage (at least 14) set an all-time record, with total damages from those disasters of at least $55 billion.
- The United States has experienced an increase in heavy precipitation events, with the rainiest 1 percent of all storms delivering 20 percent more rain on average at the end of the 20th century than at the beginning.
Cook County with 4 federally declared weather-related disasters and Lake County, Indiana with 5 have seen the greatest impact since 2006.
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