April storms strike US$700 million loss

U.S. property and casualty insurers are likely looking at a US$700 million price tag as a result of tornado and storm activity that blitzed 17 states during the week of April 27 to May 3 of this year, according to the Insurance Services Office (ISO).

In total, approximately 218,000 claims from businesses and homeowners were made due to the storm activity. The states affected were Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Tennessee and Virginia were the worst affected, with each state suffering an insured property loss of around US$120 million. Maryland incurred an insured loss of US$115 million, with nearly US$25 million of this amount resulting from a tornado that struck the town of La Plata. The insured loss from Kentucky amounted to US$95 million and Ohio with US$70 million.