Human fatalities from wind-related tree failures in the United States, 1995–2007 |
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| Authors: | Thomas W Schmidlin |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA |
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| 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. |
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| Keywords: | Storm deaths Fallen tree Fatalities |
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