(CNN) — Parkersburg, Iowa, is mourning its dead and cleaning up the colossal mess left by a powerful tornado that tore through the town on Sunday night.

The tornado killed four people in Parkersburg and two in nearby New Hartford that night; another victim died Monday from tornado-related injuries, according to local media.

The victims are among at least 110 people killed in the United States by tornadoes this year, putting 2008 on track to be one of the deadliest years in recent history.

The average for recent years is 62 tornado fatalities for an entire year.

This year’s death toll is already the highest since 1998, with seven months left in the year.

"It does look like it’s going to be a pretty remarkable year," said Greg Carbin, a meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.

Among the victims: a mother who died huddled over her 4-year-old son, protecting him from a tornado in Picher, Oklahoma, the night before Mother’s Day; a teenage girl killed when a tree fell on her home in Siloam, Arkansas, as she slept on May 2; and a 2-year-old in Hugo, Minnesota who died Sunday after a tornado hit his home.

The figures for tornado deaths have skyrocketed over the past four years. In 2005, there were 38; in 2006, 67; and last year, 81. But experts caution against reading too much into those statistics.

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written by Andrew