Yes there are some 36,000 fatalities in the US ( 4000 in Canada) per year from seasonal (Human ) flu but that is a fairly known entity. We are not likely to be surprised by it.
What is note worthy with this version of H1N1 is that it is a new combinational variety which we have not experienced enough and therefore we do not know what to expect. We could be easily blind sided per the example of 1918 Spanish flu.

As for the numbers of deaths, it is a misrepresentation to compare annual deaths on one side to 2 to 4 weeks worth on the other side. The 1918 variety started slowly and became almost 100 million casualties ( i.e. 2% of all infections). Take the present 159 cases ( I heard a doctor say 170) out of about 2000 infections ( therefore 8% fatalities ) reported by the media and extend it to a year and it becomes 2000 to 4000 per year with four times the fatalities by percentage! That is an indefinite sample because we are at a very early stage and probably many cases have not been reported to medical authorities.
So this version could be four times more deadly?
So much for numbers.