2011 record year for weather disasters

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Weather experts say 2011 has tied a record for billion-dollar weather disasters, as blizzards, tornadoes and flooding have hit U.S. states.

The National Weather Service said nine meteorological disasters this year have each caused at least $1 billion in economic damage.

Losses so far this year have totaled more than $35 billion, with more extreme weather events expected in the last four months of the year, the NWS said.

The cost of damages caused by weather disasters has been increasing with more and more people living in areas such as coastal regions where the risk of damage from such events is more likely, AccuWeather.com reported Friday.

In the past 30 years, the United States has experienced 108 weather-related disasters that have caused more than $1 billion in damage, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration records show.