Severe US weather causes insured losses of close to $1bn in April

April’s insurance losses in the US were close to $1bn after a series of extreme weather events swept through the country. The news comes from Aon Benfield’s Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide. The extent of the losses was mainly blamed on a series of particularly severe weather events that took place across central and southern sections of the country.

Published by Impact Forecasting, the firm’s catastrophe model development centre of excellence, the report revealed that multiple central states sustained widespread tornado, hail and wind damage last month, with an incredible 94 tornado touchdowns being recorded during a single 72-hour stretch.

Another severe weather outbreak in Texas comprised of at least 21 tornadoes and widespread hail and caused damage to over 1,100 homes in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metro region. Insurance firms received over 100,000 claims with payouts in excess of $650m.

Steve Jakubowski, President of Impact Forecasting, said: “While not as substantial as the historic 2011 season to this point in terms of overall losses, the 2012 severe weather season has certainly caused significant damage across portions of central and southern sections of the United States. Tornado frequency data dating to 1991 indicates that May is typically the most active tornado month of the year in the US, which is a warning to all residents and insurers to remain cognizant to potential storm threats.”