Weather Is Making a Financial Impact Across the Country | SERVPRO® of Anniston, Gadsden and Marshall County

7/8/2021 (Permalink)

When storms do damage, we go to work to make things right. Contact SERVPRO of Anniston, Gadsden and Marshall to start the restoration process.

The COVID-19 Pandemic dominated most of the news coverage in 2020. This left little room for coverage of the ever-increasing weather disasters that occurred.

But financial losses in the year related to inclement weather set new records. 2020 will go down in history as the year that generated the single largest financial loss from adverse weather.

When a storm generates losses that exceed $1 billion, it is classified as a disaster. The United States has 22 of these last year!

Keep in mind, most storms didn’t generate the billion dollar limit to be counted as a disaster. We had so many named tropical storms last year the NWS had to reach into the Greek alphabet to generate more names.

Hurricanes Not the Most Costly Type of Storm

It’s easy to surmise that hurricanes cause most of the property damage in the United States due to their size and the sustained high winds over an extended period of time. However, that’s not the case.

The facts tell us the severe storms are responsible for more property damage, and this directly relates to financial losses as well. Storms and tornadoes were responsible for more damage last year than hurricanes. Severe thunderstorms accounted for 14 out of the 22 declared disasters last year.

Ever hear of a derecho? In 2020, the United States experienced one! A derecho is a global weather phenomena that rarely occurs. But when they do they leave a tremendous amount of destruction in their path.

The United States sees one or two of these storms per year. Primarily occurring in the Great Plains, they can happen anywhere. Compare this to tornadoes, of which we see over a thousand in one year.

Over 10 million acres of corn were damaged during a derecho last year in Nebraska. That’s 11% of the United States production of corn and over half of Nebraska’s crop.

Storms Are on the Rise

Storms have always been with us. Most of the time, they cause little damage and bring much-needed rain showers across the country. But last year was a milestone as it marked the tenth year in a row of having at least eight billion-dollar weather related calamities.

As long as the weather changes, we should prepare for these changes. Everyone benefits from storm prep when storms are in the forecast.

Occasionally, property damage can’t be avoided. We’re here to help you recover when you have storm-related damage. We can help get your property restored to "Like it never even happened."

Do you have storm-related damage? We can help get your property back to its original condition. Reach out today to see how we can help.