Severe summer thunderstorms in Ohio will causebetween $71.5 million and $84.8 million in insured losses,according to current industry estimates. The thunderstorms began onJuly 9 and spawned flooding and three tornadoes, which exacerbateddamage to trees and power lines caused by excessive rain during theprevious two weeks.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Cleveland reported that someareas of the state began to experience a two-week period of rain onJune 26 that led to an accumulation of eight inches of water.Conditions continued until July 10, when three tornadoes wereconfirmed in Seneca, Huron, and Sandusky counties.

Property Claim Services (PCS) put loss estimates for the stormsystem, which primarily affected Ohio and Pennsylvania, at $84.8million, while the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII) puts the lossesat $71.5 million.

“Not all insurers are represented by OII's survey or PCSfindings,” says Dan Kelso, president at the OII. “Final losses willlikely be closer to PCS' figures.” The OII points out that industryestimates do not include uninsured property or flood losses, whichmay be covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

An industry survey conducted by the OII showed 11,846homeowners' claims filed in connection to the storms at a loss ofabout $59 million; 1,598 auto claims filed at a loss of about $4.6million; and 2,824 business claims filed at a loss estimate ofabout $7.2 million. Insured losses reported by companies rangedfrom $35,000 to more than $10.6 million.

According to the OII, the July 10 event is the ninth majornatural disaster to hit Ohio since 2011, including two winterstorms in 2011 and seven wind-hail storms.