NU Online News Service, April 18, 3:04 p.m. EDT

Violent weather from Oklahoma to North Carolina has left hundreds of homes leveled and about 45 people dead.

Close to 245 tornadoes were reported from the storm system. North Carolina appears to have been the hardest hit.

Gov. Bev Perdue says she “has never seen anything like” the storm system that destroyed at least 130 homes and damaged 700 others, some severely. The governor toured the state on Sunday and today tells NBC’s “The Today Show” that the high winds—reportedly up to 165 mph—razed homes as if they were paper doll houses. Twenty-one are reported dead and she declared a state of emergency.

Slideshow: View the damage caused in North Carolina

Top 10 North Carolina Personal Lines Insurers North Carolina’s largest personal-lines insurers are already handling thousands of claims, with more coming in every minute.

State Farm, North Carolina’s top writer of homeowners insurance, says it has received more than 1,200 homeowners claims and more than 450 automobile claims. Much of the damage is very severe.

“I’ve never seen this type of devastation run through as fast as this,” says State Farm spokeswoman Kim Conyers. “The damage is significant. It hit everything. It did not discriminate.”

Dozens of reported tornadoes in North Carolina struck rural areas as well as populated cities like Raleigh.

Not to be lost among the claims numbers, humanitarian efforts by insurers began not long after the tornadoes swept through. Conyers says an agent in Lumberton was out with a cooler of water and Gatorade for homeowners.

Nationwide spokeswoman Elizabeth Giannetti says the insurer has set up five humanitarian stations with essentials like ice, water, diapers, granola bars, paper towels, toilet paper and other supplies for affected policyholders. The company also made a $350,000 donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund for tornado victims, with $250,000 designated for North Carolina.

Nationwide, the state’s largest personal-lines writer, has received about 1,100 homeowners and about 670 auto claims in North Carolina, she adds.

The severe weather from Thursday through Sunday affected Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, the Carolinas and Virginia, where the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was keeping on eye on the Surry nuclear power plant.

Operated by Dominion, the plant lost power Saturday evening when a tornado touched down on an electrical switchyard next to the plant. Both reactors shut down immediately and there was no release of radiation beyond that which is associated with normal operations, Dominion says in a statement.

An offsite power source has been restored, the company adds.

According to Highline Data, the top writers of personal lines (home and auto policies) in North Carolina in 2010 were Nationwide with a 17.5 percent market share, State Farm (15.8 percent), North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance (11.1 percent), Allstate (9.7 percent), and Berkshire Hathaway and USAA (tied with 5.4 percent).

Special Reports /

Insurers Spring To Action In Wake Of Devastating Tornadoes

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