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<br /> <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br />. <br /> <br />Chapter <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />Following a severe August, 1990, tornado that struck Kane, Kendall and Will Counties in Illinois, a <br />consortium of concerned federal, state and university agencies decided to prepare a disaster mitigation <br />handbook to serve the 20 states of the Northeastern Area. This second edition of Storms over the Urban <br />Forest has been expanded to serve the needs of all 50 states. Emphasizing practicality, this manual is <br />intended first, to assist community governmental agencies to prepare for natural disasters and second, to <br />recover from the subsequent loss of vegetation. Throughout the document, the use of proper tree <br />maintenance and tree planting techniques are emphasized. <br /> <br />Throughout the world, violent weather is a constant companion to the other natural and social disasters <br />which strike the global inhabitants (Anon. 1985): <br /> <br />. Nearly 2,000 thunderstorms are in progress at any moment. <br />. 45,000 thunderstorms and related phenomena occur daily. <br />. Annually, 16 million violent storms bombard the land surface. <br />. Lightening strikes the earth 100 times each second. <br /> <br />In the United States, from 1959 to 1984, the violent children of mother storm clouds generated these <br />statistics: <br /> <br />. Every year, at least 100,000 thunderstorms rumble across the sky. <br />. On an annual basis, 100 people are killed and 250 are severely injured. <br />. Most of the death and destruction of people and urban vegetation occurs in the eastern half of the <br />nation. <br /> <br />Table 1. Social costs, including urban tree losses, in America <br />resulting from violent weather during the concentrated period of 1970 <br />to 1976 (on an annual basis) (Kessler, 1983) <br /> <br />Event Human Deaths Property Damage <br />$Million <br /> <br />Tornado 125 <br />Lightening 110 <br />Hail Few than five <br />Thunderstorm flood 165 <br />* Damage from all floods was about $1 Billion. <br /> <br />300 <br />200 <br />750 <br />100* <br /> <br />115 <br />