The deadliest weather event of the year was the East African drought, with the resulting food shortages and famine killing more than 50,000 people, many of them children.
[4] From March to August, a heat wave and drought persisted across much of the central United States, causing US$12 billion in damage and 95 deaths.
[6] The Japan Meteorological Agency tracked 21 tropical storms in the western Pacific during the year, making it the fourth-quietest season since accurate records began in 1951.
In July, Hurricane Dora became the year's strongest tropical cyclone in the western hemisphere, with 1 minute sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph).
Hurricane Irene was the year's costliest and deadliest for the region, killing 48 people and leaving US$13.5 billion in damage as it moved from the Caribbean up the East Coast of the United States.