Weekly wrap-up: Deadly storms pummel West Coast, Southeast; 2016 global disaster losses were highest in 4 years
The first week of 2017 brought a deadly severe weather outbreak in the Southeast, while a storm pummeled the West with heavy rain and snow.
At least six people were killed across the Southeast on Monday as severe storms spawned strong winds, heavy rain and tornadoes.
Four women in southeastern Alabama were killed when a tornado swept through the town of Rehobeth and blew a tree onto their home.
A fifth fatality occurred in Florida when a 70-year-old man died as the result of an accidental drowning.
In Georgia, a woman was killed when storms moved through the town of Albany and damaged about 1,000 homes, the Associated Press reported.
Heavy rain and snow returned to the West this week. The much-needed precipitation was a welcome sight for California, which is mired in its fifth year of drought.
Feet of snow was dumped in the Sierra Nevada, which brought plenty of excitement to ski resorts. At Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, California, nearly 4 feet of snow was reported in a 24-hour span Wednesday afternoon. Over the course of two days, the resort said on Thursday that it received up to 7 feet of snow.
(Photo/Mammoth Mountain)
However, the snow caused some traffic problems, including along Interstate 5 in Southern California on Sunday when the road was closed in both directions for two hours.
Major passes in the Sierra were also closed for a time Wednesday night, including a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 80, according to the AP.
An eight-year-old girl was killed in Oregon when strong winds toppled an evergreen tree onto a home in the town of Otis, the AP reported.
Lake-effect snow was unleashed across the Great Lakes region, stranding motorists and dumping heavy amounts of snow in western New York.
Over 20 inches of snow fell just south of Buffalo on Thursday afternoon and the evening, causing travel to come to a halt in many areas. In some regions, students were stranded at school for several hours.
Powerful storms and earthquakes across the globe made 2016 the costliest 12 months for natural disaster losses in the last four years, according to a press release from Munich RE, a global reinsurance firm.
Around the world, these natural disasters resulted in the loss of some 8,700 lives, which is much less than the 25,400 lives lost in 2015.
In the U.S., Hurricane Matthew caused severe damage along the East Coast. Including its destruction in Haiti, Matthew's overall losses totaled $10.2 billion, according to Munich RE's analysis.
Recent storms hammering the northern Plains have delivered record snow to Bismarck, North Dakota. The city’s total seasonal snowfall accumulation of 53.1 inches through Jan. 2 was the most snowfall ever accumulated to that date, according to the Bismarck Tribune.
A thick fog settled over large parts of China, including the capital of Beijing, early in the week prompting hundreds of flight cancellations across the country. The dense fog also forced highways to be shut down with visibility being reduced to just a few hundred feet.
Officials in Beijing issued a red smog alert on Wednesday, the highest possible warning level for smog, Reuters reported.
Several AccuWeather meteorologists and staff writers contributed content to this article.
Report a Typo
