Now it’s official. April’s thunderstorms were big.

The series of storms that wreaked havoc across much of theUnited States in April rank as the first billion-dollar economicloss event of 2014 that can be attributed to convectivethunderstorms, according to Aon Benfield’s monthly GlobalCatastrophe Recap report, released Wednesday. At least 39 peoplewere killed by flash flooding and severe weather during the storms,which included nearly 70 confirmed tornadoes across more than 20states in the Plains, Mississippi Valley, Southeast, Midwest andMid-Atlantic regions.

Insured losses due to the multi-day outbreak will likely end upin the hundreds of millions of dollars, Aon Benfield said.

“The recent outbreaks of tornadoes, large hail and damagingstraight-line winds in the United States have emphasized theimportance of historical data analysis for insurers and reinsurerswhen trying to forecast future losses,” said Adam Podlaha, head ofImpact Forecasting with Aon Benfield, in the report.

Widespread damage

And the “big” April storm was just one example.

Aon Benfield also attributed economic losses of $950 million toa large hailstorm that hit the Denton, Texas metro area in April,an event that generated insured losses of about $650 million. Thatstorm also caused widespread damage in parts of the Plains, Midwestand Mississippi Valley.