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Human fatalities from wind-related tree failures in the United States, 1995–2007

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  • Thomas Schmidlin

Abstract

There were 407 deaths from wind-related tree failures in the United States, 1995–2007. The most common cause of the deadly fallen tree was a thunderstorm (41%), followed by nonconvective high winds (35%), tropical cyclones (14%), tornadoes (7%), and snow and ice (3%). Most (62%) of the deaths were males while the median age was 44 years. The most common location of the fatality was in a vehicle struck by the tree or a vehicle that crashed into a downed tree on the road (44%), followed by persons outdoors (38%), in mobile homes (9%), and in frame houses (9%). Persons killed by wind-related tree failures during tropical cyclones and tornadoes were more commonly at home (40%) when struck than those killed at home by thunderstorm and nonconvective high winds (13%). Seasonality of the deaths varied by weather type with deaths in thunderstorms clustered during May–August, nonconvective high winds October–April, tropical cyclones August–October, tornadoes in April and November, and snow and ice December–April. Regional patterns result from frequency of the wind events, population density, and tree cover. Suggestions are made for hazard reductions. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Schmidlin, 2009. "Human fatalities from wind-related tree failures in the United States, 1995–2007," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 50(1), pages 13-25, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:50:y:2009:i:1:p:13-25
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-008-9314-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. D. Vandaele & P. Gemmel, 2004. "Development of a measurement scale for business-to-business service quality: assessment in the facility services sector," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 04/259, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    2. Tamara Houston & Stanley Changnon, 2007. "Freezing rain events: a major weather hazard in the conterminous US," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 40(2), pages 485-494, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alan Black & Walker Ashley, 2010. "Nontornadic convective wind fatalities in the United States," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 54(2), pages 355-366, August.
    2. Thomas Schmidlin, 2011. "Public health consequences of the 2008 Hurricane Ike windstorm in Ohio, USA," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 58(1), pages 235-249, July.
    3. Kabir, Elnaz & Guikema, Seth & Kane, Brian, 2018. "Statistical modeling of tree failures during storms," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 68-79.
    4. Yui-Yip Lau & Tsz-Leung Yip & Maxim A. Dulebenets & Yuk-Ming Tang & Tomoya Kawasaki, 2022. "A Review of Historical Changes of Tropical and Extra-Tropical Cyclones: A Comparative Analysis of the United States, Europe, and Asia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-19, April.

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