New article: US disasters in first 3 months of 2017 cost record $5B read more at here http://www.spinonews.com/index.php/us2/item/3276-u-s-disasters-in-first-3-months-of-2017-cost-record-5b

The National Centers for Environmental Information said there were five weather disasters from January to March, which cost more than $5 billion, a record for the first quarter of the year.

"The number of billion-dollar events for January-March, five, is the largest number of first-quarter events in the 1980-present period of record and doubles the average number of events for January-March over the last 5 years, 2.4 events," the NCEI said.

In January, a tornado outbreak in the South killed at least 24 people and caused $1.1 billion in damages. In February, feet of rain fell in California and caused flooding and structural damage, which killed at least five people and caused $1 billion in damage.

From Feb. 28 through March 8, two tornado outbreaks in the Midwest killed at least eight people and caused $2.7 billion in damage.

 

In March, the cold air from a winter storm in the Northeast in which at least five people died traveled south and killed crops, mainly blueberries in Georgia and peach trees in South Carolina causing at least $1 billion in damage.