Southeast England most at risk of rising deaths due to climate change

Warmer summers brought on by climate change will cause more deaths in London and southeast England than the rest of the country, scientists predict.

Researchers at Imperial College London looked at temperature records and mortality figures for 2001 to 2010 to find out which districts in England and Wales experience the biggest effects from warm temperatures.

In the most vulnerable districts, in London and the southeast, the odds of dying from cardiovascular or respiratory causes increased by over 10 per cent for every 1C rise in temperature. Districts in the far north were much more resilient, seeing no increase in deaths at equivalent temperatures.

Writing in Nature Climate Change, the researchers say local variations in climate change vulnerability should be taken into account when assessing the risks and choosing policy responses.

Dr James Bennett, the lead author of the study from the MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health at Imperial College London, said: “It’s well known that warm weather can increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory deaths, especially in elderly people. Climate change is expected to raise average temperatures and increase temperature variability, so we can expect it to have effects on mortality even in countries like the UK with a temperate climate.”

Across England and Wales as a whole, a summer that is 2C warmer than average would be expected to cause around 1,550 extra deaths, the study found. Just over half would be in people aged over 85, and 62 per cent would be in women. The extra deaths would be distributed unevenly, with 95 out of 376 districts accounting for half of all deaths.

The effects of warm temperature were similar in urban and rural districts. The most vulnerable districts included deprived districts in London such as Hackney and Tower Hamlets, with the odds of dying more than doubling on very hot days like those of August 2003.

“The reasons for the uneven distribution of deaths in warm weather need to be studied,” said Professor Majid Ezzati, from the School of Public Health at Imperial, who led the research. “It might be due to more vulnerable individuals being concentrated in some areas, or it might be related to differences at the community level, like quality of healthcare, that require government action.

“We might expect that people in areas that tend to be warmer would be more resilient, because they adapt by installing air conditioning for example. These results show that this isn’t the case in England and Wales.

“While climate change is a global phenomenon, resilience and vulnerability to its effects are highly local. Many things can be done at the local level to reduce the impact of warm spells, like alerting the public and planning for emergency services. Detailed information about which communities are most at risk from high temperatures can help to inform these strategies.”

The researchers received funding from the Medical Research Council, Public Health England, and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.

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Deaths attributed directly to climate change cast pall over penguins

Climate change is killing penguin chicks from the world's largest colony of Magellanic penguins, not just indirectly -- by depriving them of food, as has been repeatedly documented for these and other seabirds -- but directly as a result of drenching rainstorms and, at other times, heat, according to new findings from the University of Washington.

Too big for parents to sit over protectively, but still too young to have grown waterproof feathers, downy penguin chicks exposed to drenching rain can struggle and die of hypothermia in spite of the best efforts of their concerned parents. And during extreme heat, chicks without waterproofing can't take a dip in cooling waters as adults can.

Various research groups have published findings on the reproductive repercussions from single storms or heat waves, events that individually are impossible to tie to climate change. The new results span 27 years of data collected in Argentina under the direction of Dee Boersma, UW biology professor, with the support of the Wildlife Conservation Society, the UW, the Office of Turismo in Argentina's Chubut Province, the Global Penguin Society and the La Regina family. Boersma is lead author of a paper on the findings in the Jan. 29 issue of PLOS ONE.

"It's the first long-term study to show climate change having a major impact on chick survival and reproductive success," said Boersma, who has led field work since 1983 at the world's largest breeding area for Magellanic penguins, about halfway up the Atlantic coast of Argentina at Punta Tombo, where 200,000 pairs reside from September through February to have their young.

During a span of 27 years, an average of 65 percent of chicks died per year, with some 40 percent starving. Climate change, a relatively new cause of chick death, killed an average of 7 percent of chicks per year, but there were years when it was the most common cause of death, killing 43 percent of all chicks one year and fully half in another.

Starvation and weather will likely interact increasingly as climate changes, Boersma said.

"Starving chicks are more likely to die in a storm," she said. "There may not be much we can do to mitigate climate change, but steps could be taken to make sure the Earth's largest colony of Magellanic penguins have enough to eat by creating a marine protected reserve, with regulations on fishing, where penguins forage while raising small chicks."

Rainfall and the number of storms per breeding season have already increased at the Argentine study site, said Ginger Rebstock, UW research scientist and the co-author of the paper. For instance in the first two weeks of December, when all chicks are less than 25 days old and most vulnerable to storm death, the number of storms increased between 1983 and 2010.

"We're going to see years where almost no chicks survive if climate change makes storms bigger and more frequent during vulnerable times of the breeding season as climatologists predict," Rebstock said.

Magellanics are medium-sized penguins standing about 15 inches tall and weighing about 10 pounds. Males of the species sound like braying donkeys when they vocalize. Of the Earth's 17 species of penguins, 10 -- including Magellanics -- breed where there is no snow, it is relatively dry and temperatures can be temperate.

Punta Tombo is so arid that it gets an average of only 4 inches (100 mm) of rain during the six-month breeding season and, sometimes, no rain falls at all. Rain is a problem and kills down-covered chicks ages 9 to 23 days if they can't warm up and dry off after heavy storms in November and December when temperatures are likely to dip. If chicks can live 25 days or more, most have enough juvenile plumage to protect them. Once chicks die, parents do not lay additional eggs that season.

The findings are based on weather information, collected at the regional airport and by researchers in the field, as well as from penguin counts. During the breeding season researchers visit nests once or twice a day to see what is happening and record the contents of the nest, often hunting for chicks when they move around as they get older. When chicks disappear or are found dead, the researchers turn into detectives looking for evidence of starvation, predators or other causes of death such as being pecked or beaten by other penguins.

Just back from two months in the field, Boersma said heat this season took a greater toll on chicks than storms. Such variability between years is the reason why the number of chicks dying from climate change is not a tidy, ever-increasing figure each year. Over time, however, the researchers expect climate change will be an increasingly important cause of death.

Also contributing to increasing deaths from climate change is the fact that, over 27 years, penguin parents have arrived to the breeding site later and later in the year, probably because the fish they eat also are arriving later, Boersma said. The later in the year chicks hatch the more likely they'll still be in their down-covered stage when storms typically pick up in November and December.

Besides the coast of Argentina, Magellanic penguins also breed on the Chile-side of South America and in the Falkand (Malvinas) Islands, breeding ranges they share with some 60 other seabird species. These species also are likely to suffer negative impacts from climate change, losing whole generations as the penguins have in the study area, the co-authors say.

"Increasing storminess bodes ill not only for Magellanic penguins but for many other species," they write.

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Hot weather deaths projected to rise 257 percent in UK by 2050s, experts warn

The number of annual excess deaths caused by hot weather in England and Wales is projected to surge by 257% by the middle of the century, as a result of climate change and population growth, concludes research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The elderly (75+) will be most at risk, particularly in the South and the Midlands, the findings suggest.

The research team, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Public Health England, used time-series regression analysis to chart historic (1993-2006) fluctuations in weather patterns and death rates to characterise the associations between temperature and mortality, by region and by age group.

They then applied these to projected population increases and local climate to estimate the future number of deaths likely to be caused by temperature -- hot and cold -- for the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s.

They based their calculations on the projected daily average temperatures for 2000-09, 2020-29, 2050-59 and 2080-89, derived from the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC), and population growth estimates from the Office of National Statistics.

The calculations indicated a significantly increased risk of deaths associated with temperature across all regions of the UK, with the elderly most at risk.

The number of hot weather days is projected to rise steeply, tripling in frequency by the mid 2080s, while the number of cold days is expected to fall, but at a less dramatic pace.

At the national level, the death rate increases by just over 2% for every 1?C rise in temperature above the heat threshold, with a corresponding 2% increase in the death rate for every 1?C fall in temperature below the cold threshold.

In the absence of any adaptive measures, excess deaths related to heat would be expected to rise by 257% by the 2050s, from an annual baseline of 2000, while those related to the cold would be expected to fall by 2% as a result of milder winters, from a current toll of around 41,000, but will still remain significant.

Those aged 85 and over will be most at risk, partly as a result of population growth -- projected to reach 89 million by the mid 2080s -- and the increasing proportion of elderly in the population, say the authors.

Regional variations are likely to persist: London and the Midlands are the regions most vulnerable to the impact of heat, while Wales, the North West, Eastern England and the South are most vulnerable to the impact of cold.

Rising fuel costs may make it harder to adapt to extremes of temperature, while increased reliance on active cooling systems could simply end up driving up energy consumption and worsening the impact of climate change, say the authors.

Better and more sustainable options might instead include shading, thermal insulation, choice of construction materials implemented at the design stage of urban developments, suggest the authors.

While the death toll from cold weather temperatures will remain higher than that caused by hot temperatures, the authors warn that health protection from hot weather will become increasingly necessary -- and vital for the very old.

"As the contribution of population growth and aging on future temperature related health burdens will be large, the health protection of the elderly will be important," warn the authors, recalling the social changes that have led to many elderly living on their own -- a contributory factor to the high death toll in France in the 2003 heatwave.

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Record Low Lightning Deaths in 2011; What about 2012?

A horrific weather year. I'm sure that you are aware of how bad 2011 was overall in terms of severe weather, with more than a dozen billion-dollar weather disasters and a record 99 Presidential disaster declarations. With 552 tornado fatalities, the year tied with 1936 for second-most tornado deaths on record, trailing only 1925 which had 794. April alone brought 748 tornadoes, a record for any month of any year. May brought the tornado at Joplin, Missouri that killed at least 158 people (with additional indirect deaths), most for a single tornado in the United States since 1947.

The listing of severe events could go on and on! You can refresh your memory about 2011 in Stu Ostro's blog and images of 2011 and my blog on the 2011 tornadoes.

Record-low lightning fatalities. Despite all of the severe thunderstorm and tornado activity, there were only 26 confirmed lightning fatalities in 2011, a record low. While this is still too many, it's gratifying that the trend has been downward for decades. We've been helping spread the message "when thunder roars, go (stay) indoors" and hopefully that has been a contributing factor. (Read more about this slogan below.) The safest places to be are inside a building with plumbing and wiring or inside a metal-bodied and metal-roofed vehicle. Keep away from electrical appliances, corded telephones, and plumbing during a thunderstorm, as lightning can travel into and through the house in wires and pipes. Avoid contact with metal inside vehicles. Stay in these safe places for at least 30 minutes after the last thunder or lightning has ended to allow storm clouds to clear the area.

Practice lightning safety in 2012. Even one lightning death is too many, and about 10 times as many people are injured as are killed. Most of the casualties are people caught outside during a thunderstorm. Monitor the weather and avoid outside activities as much as possible when thunderstorms are predicted, particularly activities in remote areas where a shelter would not be within quick reach. Many of the fatalities are from the first strike of a thunderstorm. Thus, it's best to seek shelter when the skies start to darken on a day when thunderstorms are predicted. Certainly practice another safety rule "Use your brain, don't wait for the rain!" And don't let sports activities delay your response. Remember more lightning safety slogans: "Don't be lame, end the game! Don't be a fool, get out of the pool!"

Miss America Contestant a Lightning Safety Spokesperson. Lightning safety advocates will be rooting for Ellen Bryan, Miss Ohio (right above) to win the Miss America Pageant on 14 January. She has been a
spokesperson for lightning safety for several years. Her sister Christina (left above) was struck by lightning in 2000 and suffered permanent brain damage. Ellen has made lightning safety and "when thunder roars, go indoors" her Miss America platform issue. You can read Christina's story and watch their lightning safety video clips at the link above.

What about 2012? About this time each year, people wonder how bad the new year will be. In reality, the skill in predicting that is quite low. When it comes to anticipating tornadoes, many researchers have examined potential links to El Nino and La Nina. Results have varied depending upon geographical region and how the studies were conducted. Results are a bit more robust for tropical cyclones, with El Nino conditions tending to reduce the threat of tropical cyclones for the United States. The current La Nina conditions are predicted to persist at least into the spring, and if they persisted beyond that then there would not be a suppressing factor for at least the start of the tropical cyclone season.

El Nino is a phenomenon in which surface and near-surface waters in the eastern and central portions of the equatorial Pacific Ocean are warmer than average. By contrast, La Nina episodes have below-average water temperatures there. The warm or cold waters can impact the formation and location of thunderstorm clusters and rising motions in these areas that, in turn, can affect the strength and location of the jet stream in subtropical and middle latitudes. The jet stream influences weather systems that sometimes produce tornadoes.

There has been a tendency for large tornado outbreaks during La Nina episodes during the January through April months. The record numbers of tornadoes in each of those months occurred during La Nina conditions, including April 2011. Of the eleven largest and most impactful tornado outbreaks since 1950 in those months, six were during La Nina, 3 during El Nino, and 2 during neutral conditions. These statistics suggest, but don't guarantee, above-average tornado activity in January-April 2012. Historically this activity occurs mainly in the Gulf Coast (excluding the Florida Peninsula), Southeast, Mississippi Valley, and Tennessee Valley states.

El Nino conditions have tended to exist during large tornado outbreaks from May through December in the past, but we can't predict with certainty what the conditions will be during these months in 2012.

Tornado outbreaks are mainly driven by travelling weather systems (low pressure systems, fronts, and upper-air disturbances) operating on much shorter time scales than El Nino or La Nina. It's whether or not those factors become favorable that ultimately determine whether or not and how bad an outbreak will be. But factors like La Nina can impact the configuration of those travelling weather systems, and thus exert some influence, but aren't the dominant factor.

Another phenomenon that can potentially influence weather patterns is the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). An index of this oscillation is positive when there is a strong upper low over or near the Greenland area (as in the figures below). The index is negative when there is relatively high pressure over this region. The nature of the NAO tends to influence the location and intensity of the jet stream pattern over the Northeast, and the temperature pattern over the central and eastern United States.

Positive NAO conditions were present during the record-tornado April 2011. Of the 27 largest and most impactful tornado outbreaks since 1950, 14 were during positive NAO, 8 during negative NAO, and 5 during near-zero periods. Thus, positive NAO tends to favor tornado outbreaks, but it's far from a foolproof indicator. NAO is much more variable and on shorter time scales than El Nino/La Nina, so it can't be predicted far enough in advance to use it in forecasts of tornado activity in 2012.

Another large-scale potential influencing factor is the Arctic Oscillation (AO). This is positive when there is colder-than-average air over the North Pole region at the upper-level jet stream altitudes. Positive NAO tends to mean a stronger-than-average polar jet stream, which can influence possible tornado-producing weather systems. AO was positive during April 2011 and was positive in 16 of the 27 largest and most impactful tornado outbreaks since 1950. Again, though, it is rather variable and can't be predicted far enough in advance to use in forecasts of tornado activity in 2012.

The bottom line is that La Nina conditions may lead to an active January-to-April period for tornadoes in 2012, but that can't be predicted with total certainty. We can all hope that the death toll in 2012 will be way below that of 2011.

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Florida: 7 state deaths related to storm Debby

LIVE OAK, Fla. (AP) – Florida officials said Thursday that Tropical Storm Debby was responsible for seven deaths in the state.

By Dave Martin, AP

Tommy and Dorothy McIntosh walk away from their daughter's flooded home in Live Oak, Fla., Wednesday.

By Dave Martin, AP

Tommy and Dorothy McIntosh walk away from their daughter's flooded home in Live Oak, Fla., Wednesday.

State emergency operations spokeswoman Jessica Sims said that two people died in Pinellas County, including a 41-year-old woman caught in a riptide Wednesday at St. Pete Beach.

She was among eight people pulled from rip currents on St. Pete Beach on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, lifeguards on Clearwater Beach helped three people from the water who got caught in a rip current.

Storm-related deaths were also reported in Highlands, Pasco, Polk, Lake and Madison counties. They include a Highlands County woman who died in a tornado spawned by the storm on Sunday, as well as a 71-year-old man who suffered a heart attack and was found dead in flood waters outside his Indian Rocks Beach home in Pinellas County.

In addition, a South Carolina man disappeared Sunday off Alabama's Orange Beach in rough waters churned up by the storm.

Authorities said Wednesday they had suspended a five-day-old search for a 32-year-old Eric Pye of Summerville, S.C., after dozens of searchers using boats and sonar had failed to locate him.

The Orange Beach safety director, Melvin Shephard, told The Associated Press that accounts indicate Pye was wading near the beach's edge Sunday when the backwash of a large wave dragged him into the Gulf of Mexico. Debby was churning up 8- to 10-foot waves there at the time, he added.

Debby hovered in the Gulf of Mexico for days before slowly blowing across northern Florida this week; the storm dumped more than two feet of water in some parts.

On Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott traveled to some of the hardest-hit areas in Florida to survey flood damages. He told officials and some victims that he empathized with them.

"I grew up in the Midwest and the Missouri River used to flood," said Scott, who was raised in Kansas City. "You think about it as you go down and see the families who are devastated when their houses are under water."

Scott noted that the Suwannee River has yet to crest.

"There's more to come," he said.

Suwannee County Sheriff Tony Cameron said he hadn't seen so much flooding in Live Oak and surrounding areas since 1964, when he was 11 and Hurricane Dora flooded the small, north-central Florida community. Then, he helped his grandfather pump water out of the city.

"The problem we have right now is sink holes, that's our number one problem at this time," Cameron said Thursday afternoon. "We've got a lot of roads that are still under water. There are probably 300 cars scattered around the county sitting under water."

More than 150 people remained in shelters in Suwannee and Pasco counties on Thursday.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Storms cause damage, deaths, injuries in South (Reuters)

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) – Severe storms and suspected tornadoes across the South have resulted in structural damage, power outages, injuries and at least six deaths in three states, officials said on Thursday.

Officials confirmed deaths in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia from the extreme weather that swept the region on Wednesday.

A 50-year-old woman and 3-year-old girl died in Davidson County in central North Carolina when an apparent twister destroyed the home they were in, said Major Larry James of Davidson County Emergency Services.

"The house was completely gone," he told Reuters. "The only thing left is the block foundation."

James said 11 other people were injured, and 35 to 50 residences and businesses were damaged.

In a statement, North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue said there also were more than a dozen structures damaged in Randolph County from a reported tornado there.

Severe weather, including a possible tornado, was being blamed for three deaths in a rural area near the town of Rock Hill, South Carolina, said York County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Mike Baker.

Five people were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening after the Wednesday evening storm, and seven homes were severely damaged or destroyed, Baker said.

"Everyone's been accounted for, but we're continuing to search for personal items," Baker said. "This is very significant damage, and a November tornado, it's an unusual weather occurrence for us."

In suburban Atlanta, a man died Wednesday afternoon when a large pine tree fell on top of the sport utility vehicle he was driving in heavy wind and rain, said Captain Tim House, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.

"The driver was trapped and mortally wounded," House said.

COLD FRONT ARRIVES

Conditions were favorable for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes on Wednesday, with a cold front hitting unusually warm air and significant moisture existing at lower levels of the atmosphere, weather experts said.

"Typically we see our severe weather season during the spring months, but we also have a secondary peak in November," said Neil Dixon, meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Greenville/Spartanburg in South Carolina.

"In November, we see strong cold fronts," he said. "These strong cold fronts move along from the western Carolinas, and the strong wind shear moves ahead of that."

A series of deadly tornadoes battered the Southeast in April, killing an estimated 364 people. With the latest deaths, the number of tornado fatalities for 2011 will likely top 550, said Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center.

This year already ranks as the deadliest from tornadoes since the National Weather Service began its database in 1950, he said.

"The number of fatalities this year directly due to tornadoes is 100 times greater than the recent decades' annual average," Carbin said.

Preliminary reports indicate at least 25 twisters hit Southern states between Tuesday and Wednesday, Carbin said. Reports came from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas.

On Wednesday, at least 15 people were injured in southern Mississippi as storms passed through Jones County, just north of Laurel. Only one of those was transported to an area hospital for treatment, said Don McKinnon, the county's emergency management director.

The American Red Cross said an initial damage assessment in Alabama indicated about 230 homes were affected by severe weather throughout the state, including 16 homes that were destroyed.

(Additional reporting by Verna Gates in Birmingham, Ala, Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Ala, David Beasley in Atlanta and Harriet McLeod in Charleston, S.C.; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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Severe Storm Causes Two Deaths in Wisconsin (ContributorNetwork)

Severe storms moved through Wisconsin and Minnesota on Friday, resulting in tragedy in one Wisconsin county where countless people were camping and getting ready for the holiday weekend. One 11-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on her after it was struck by lightning. The Associated Press reported that the girl was from Minnesota but did not release her name.

According to Wisconsin Emergency Management Agency, the girl was camping in Burnett County with her family when the storm hit. The Agency reported that two deaths resulted from this storm. The other death occurred when a local man suffered a heart attack but it was not clear if the heart attack was related to the storm.

More than three dozen other people in northwestern Wisconsin were injured by the storm and reports stated that this weather event brought 80 mile per hour winds, softball size hail and plenty of damage. Campgrounds, lakes, rivers and state parks suffered damage from downed trees. The storm knocked out power to thousands of homes in eastern South Dakota and western Wisconsin.

This round of storms affected areas that normally have smaller populations but due to the Fourth of July holiday, thousands of visitors had already started packing the campgrounds that were hit by the storm.

This year has already seen excessive weather events that have grabbed headlines and plenty of attention. A number of EF-5 tornadoes have struck at various locations in the United States and caused extreme death and destruction. Town names such as Joplin and Tuscaloosa have become synonymous with severe weather due to this year's tornado season. Historically, Wisconsin has not been known for having a high number of storm fatalities or injuries.

For example, 2010 statistics from the National Weather Service show that the state experienced six storm-related fatalities last year and 50 injuries. In contrast, Oklahoma had the highest number of injuries in 2010 with 410 while Tennessee had the highest number of deaths at 53.

Wisconsin EMA reported that several counties had storm damage and power outages from this storm. The agency stated that the hardest hit counties in northwest Wisconsin were Douglas, Burnett and Washburn counties where there were reports of at least two homes destroyed. WEMA reported that a hanger in Solon Springs had one wall collapse due to the storm causing the building to fall on a small single engine plane. It was reported that the high winds blew away the roof of the hanger building.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope--a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and other natural phenomena.

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Severe Storm Causes Two Deaths in Wisconsin (ContributorNetwork)

Severe storms moved through Wisconsin and Minnesota on Friday, resulting in tragedy in one Wisconsin county where countless people were camping and getting ready for the holiday weekend. One 11-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on her after it was struck by lightning. The Associated Press reported that the girl was from Minnesota but did not release her name.

According to Wisconsin Emergency Management Agency, the girl was camping in Burnett County with her family when the storm hit. The Agency reported that two deaths resulted from this storm. The other death occurred when a local man suffered a heart attack but it was not clear if the heart attack was related to the storm.

More than three dozen other people in northwestern Wisconsin were injured by the storm and reports stated that this weather event brought 80 mile per hour winds, softball size hail and plenty of damage. Campgrounds, lakes, rivers and state parks suffered damage from downed trees. The storm knocked out power to thousands of homes in eastern South Dakota and western Wisconsin.

This round of storms affected areas that normally have smaller populations but due to the Fourth of July holiday, thousands of visitors had already started packing the campgrounds that were hit by the storm.

This year has already seen excessive weather events that have grabbed headlines and plenty of attention. A number of EF-5 tornadoes have struck at various locations in the United States and caused extreme death and destruction. Town names such as Joplin and Tuscaloosa have become synonymous with severe weather due to this year's tornado season. Historically, Wisconsin has not been known for having a high number of storm fatalities or injuries.

For example, 2010 statistics from the National Weather Service show that the state experienced six storm-related fatalities last year and 50 injuries. In contrast, Oklahoma had the highest number of injuries in 2010 with 410 while Tennessee had the highest number of deaths at 53.

Wisconsin EMA reported that several counties had storm damage and power outages from this storm. The agency stated that the hardest hit counties in northwest Wisconsin were Douglas, Burnett and Washburn counties where there were reports of at least two homes destroyed. WEMA reported that a hanger in Solon Springs had one wall collapse due to the storm causing the building to fall on a small single engine plane. It was reported that the high winds blew away the roof of the hanger building.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope--a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and other natural phenomena.

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