Weather and Natural Disasters

2014's worst US weather

Worst weather—2014

AP

A rainstorm this week pounded parched Northern California, bringing some relief from the state's catastrophic drought, but also flooding, power outages and other damage. It is another in a sizable list of severe weather events across the country over the last year. Virtually every region of the country has done battle with bad elements. Here's a glimpse of some of the big ones for 2014.

Overture: January storms

A man and his dog contend with blowing snow in Brooklyn following a snow storm that left up to 8 inches of snow on January 3, 2014 in New York.
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The year opened with severe winter weather all along the East Coast, continuing the harsh winter from 2013. A particularly severe storm hit the eastern half of the country in late January. Here's what it looked like in New York City.

Icy Carolina

Richard Ellis | Getty Images

Even warm cities such as Tallahassee, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina—practically synonymous with sunshine—were clobbered by freezing rain and sleet, closing highways and bridges.

Powerless

Power company crews work on a downed power line near Emory University after the weight of accumulating freezing rain, sleet and snow toppled a nearby tree that slammed into power poles during a winter storm Feb. 12, 2014, in Atlanta.
AP

Two weeks later, an ice storm knocked out power in Atlanta, and further strained the already dwindling supply of salt for icy roads.

Mudslides

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In late March, a massive mudslide broke off a hill and flowed into a nearby river before it engulfed the engulfed the town of Oso, Washington. Here a rescue crew walks through floodwaters to get to the site to look for those stranded or buried.

Search and rescue

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The National Guard assisted in the search and relief efforts, and workers came from nearby states to help. Here a search and rescue dog works at the mudslide site. Forty-three people died in total.

Brutal tornadoes

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April brought tornadoes to the Southeast, destroying homes and other property in states such as Mississippi, Oklahoma and Arkansas. President Barack Obama flew to the region to meet with victims.

Tornadoes also hit Colorado in June and as far to the north as Massachusetts later that summer.

In this photo, two homeowners survey the damage after returning home to Louisville, Mississippi.

Summer storms

Joshua Lott | Getty Images

A late summer rainstorm flooded parts of Detroit, Michigan in August, leaving scenes such as this one of cars stranded in an underpass in nearby Royal Oak.

'Snovember'

Vehicles litter the highway in West Seneca. An autumn blizzard dumped a year's worth of snow on western New York state where five people died and residents, some stranded overnight in cars, braced for another pummelling expected later on Wednesday.
Reuters

It was still only autumn but a mega snowstorm hit parts of the Great Lakes, dumping nearly 8 feet of snow in western New York. Roofs collapsed, cars were stranded, and some people's homes were buried up to their roofs.

Snow patrol

Emergency workers standing next to a National Guard vehicle direct people to evacuate their cars in Cheektowaga New York.
Chris Brown

The National Guard joined local first responders in emergency relief efforts, including rescuing people stranded in their cars.

Top-heavy

AP

A car with a large chunk of snow on its top in Lancaster, New York, during a break in the deluge.

From drought to drenched

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Some scientists say California is going through its worst drought in more than 1,000 years, so one might think people would be rejoicing in the arrival of much needed water. But one December storm brought hurricane-force winds of 78 mph and one gust of 147 mph in the Sierra and flash floods in the Bay Area.

Here a police officer directs traffic through a flooded street Mill Valley, outside San Francisco.

Blown cover

AP/Robert Gower

A picture of a manhole cover getting blown out by water rushing under a street in San Francisco.

Washaway Beach

Reuters

The same storm also hit the Pacific Northwest. Here, a house in Washington state balances on what's left of its foundation. The location? Washaway Beach.