2011: Year Of Billion-Dollar Disasters

(CNN) -- The Wood family of Piedmont, Oklahoma, barely made it to their storm-proof safe room before a huge tornado struck their house in late May. The Woods survived unhurt but the three-story house was destroyed and their dog, Roxie, disappeared.

The family got a bit of relief when Roxie was found safe almost two miles away a day later."I was very happy. I started dancing," 8-year-old Paisley Wood told CNN's Ed Lavandera shortly after the storm.

That storm was part of a six-day outbreak of an estimated 180 tornadoes that caused 177 deaths, including 157 in Joplin, Missouri. Total losses across 15 states were greater than $7 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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