# 6436
Disasters don’t always happen suddenly, with the ferocity of a tornado or earthquake. Some disasters – like droughts - happen over weeks, months, or even years and insidiously exact their toll in lives lost, crops destroyed, and economies shaken.
The United States is no stranger to extreme drought conditions. Most famously, the nation saw an eight-ear drought that caused the horrific `dust bowl’ conditions across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas in the 1930s.
Dust storm Elkhart, Kansas 1937.
While not as dramatic or prolonged, according to A Climatology of 1980-2003 Extreme Weather and Climate Events (Ross and Lott, 2003), an intense drought & heat wave in 1980 caused:
1980
Drought/Heat Wave - June-September 1980: Central and eastern U.S. drought/heat wave caused damage to agriculture and other related industries.
Total Estimated Costs: $20.0 (55.6) Billion; 10,000 Deaths
And again, eight years later:
1988
Drought/Heat Wave - Summer 1988: 1988 drought in central and eastern U.S. with very severe losses to agriculture and related industries;Total Estimated Costs: $40.0 (77.6) Billion; 7,500 Deaths
More people die from heat-related disasters in the U.S. than from all of our hurricanes, tornados and blizzards combined.
The drought of 2012, which resulted in the declaration by the USDA last week of 1,016 primary counties in 26 states as natural disaster areas, is already being compared to the 1988 disaster.
The trend across the U.S. this year has been hot and dry. According to NOAA’s State of the Climate National Overview (6/12):
- The January-June period was the warmest first half of any year on record for the contiguous United States. The national temperature of 52.9°F was 4.5°F above average. Most of the contiguous U.S. was record and near-record warm for the six-month period, except the Pacific Northwest. Twenty-eight states east of the Rockies were record warm and an additional 15 states were top ten warm.
- The first six months of 2012 were also drier than average for much of the contiguous U.S., with a nationally-averaged precipitation total 1.62 inches below average. Drier-than-average conditions stretched from the West, through the Central Plains, into the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic. Fourteen states in total had precipitation totals for the six-month period among their ten driest.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of summer left to go, and the forecast is for continued drought conditions across roughly 60% of the United States.
Corn, soybean and wheat futures prices have been rising for weeks in anticipation of lower-than-normal crop yields and last week the USDA has slashed its 2012 corn production forecast by about 12% from earlier estimates.
And along with drought inevitably come wildfires, which have destroyed millions of acres of woodland so far this year, and the fire season is far from over.
Credit US Forestry Service
Ready.gov has advice for preparing for a variety of disasters, including drought, heat, and wildfires.
Natural Disasters
September is National Preparedness Month, but being prepared is a year-round endeavor. Rather than focus on one single threat, the smart move is to work towards `all-threats’ preparedness, since you never know what you and your family may be faced with.
For more on how to get, and stay, prepared you may wish to revisit:
Inside My New Bug Out Bag
Picking Up The Pieces
When 72 Hours Isn’t Enough
In An Emergency, Who Has Your Back?
An Appropriate Level Of Preparedness
The Gift Of Preparedness 2011
