Severe thunderstorms were responsible for 2 fatalities and 7 injuries. However, flooding was the leading weather related killer as usual claiming 9 lives across Ohio. Pennsylvania had a record year for tornadoes. In northwest Pennsylvania, the only recorded tornado occurred near Linesville in Crawford county on July 20th. We have all heard how the 1990's was the most violent decade on record for severe weather.
Some experts purport that global warming is leading to more extreme weather patterns.
The primary reason for an increase in severe weather damage is the explosion in population in the United States since the turn of the century. Also, many people have moved from the cities to the country. Early in this century, most people lived in major cities. Once every few years a tornado or hurricane would make a direct hit on an urban area killing and injuring hundreds of people. The odds that a major storm would make a direct hit on an urban area were relatively small in any one year.