Heartland Tornadoes Are Worst In Years A series of deadly storm cells that produced over 100 tornadoes beginning Friday, May 2, has caused considerable damage and death throughout 14 states in the Midwest and South, claiming about 40 lives and obliterating towns in at least three states.

The Insurance Information Institute in New York City said its survey of insurers dealing in six of the states affected estimated the damage could run at least $325 million, making it one of the top five costliest tornado events.

Giving a preliminary assessment of damage in just one state, Tennessee, however, adjuster R. Clay Humphries, assistant vice president and general manager for GAB Robins North America Inc. in Parsippany, N.J., said the insured loss damage there could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. He said the feedback he is getting from carriers is that insurers are already putting away reserves in the triple-million-dollar range.

The worst hit states, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee have seen thousands of homes and business destroyed. Kansas and Missouri were both declared disaster areas by President George W. Bush on Tuesday. Tennessee was still in the process of collecting data before making an application, one state official said.

By last count, Missouri reported 17 dead, Kansas said seven had died, and Tennessee said it had 15 confirmed deaths.

On Monday, May 5, the Insurance Services Office Inc., based in Jersey City, N.J., declared the weather events catastrophes. ISO said such a designation means the event caused more than $25 million in damage.

Mike Gannon, a spokesperson for AIR Worldwide Corp. in Boston, a subsidiary of ISO, said the modeling agency would not have loss estimates until the series of storms going through the area is finished, which was not expected until near the end of the week. ISO would not have actual loss figures until insurers completed their totals, he noted.

AIR was also sending teams of engineers to assess the damage.

“This has been devastating to dozens of communities,” said Randy McConnell, communications director for the Department of Insurance in Missouri. Pierce City and Stockton, where tornadoes struck the “old downtown” areas, he said, “do not look like towns anymore.”

In Pierce City, Mo., a population of 14,000, a National Guard Armory where people had sought shelter collapsed, killing one. A total of 17 counties were hit, affecting 50 communities throughout the state where the storm crossed in from the north and moved east of Kansas City, Mo. Missouri Gov. Bob Holder activated the National Guard to help out.

Kansass officials said seven counties were hit there.

In Tennessee, Kurt Pickering, spokesperson for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said 50 counties in the state have been hit either by tornadoes or flooding. Over 3,000 residents and close to 400 non-residential buildings, such as businesses and churches, have reported some sort of damage. “This could turn out to be the worst disaster in the last 30 years,” said Mr. Pickering.

GAB Robins Mr. Humphries said that while Tennessees governor gave an estimate that damages would run at least $9 million, he personally knew of one claim alone, covering a civic center, that would run between $5 million and $6 million.

Briefing NU last Wednesday, Mr. Humphries noted that it was too early in the week to know for sure how much the total will be because of the continuing storm pattern. Most damage from flooding produced by the storms was taking place in the middle and eastern regions of Tennessee, he reported. He said the extent of the damage, which ranged from complete loss and devastation to roofs blown off buildings, was about a 50-50 mix.

While news accounts concentrated on the loss in Missouri of Pierce Citys downtown, Mr. Humphries said Jackson, Tenn., a city of 100,000, was hit much worse. “Its still early in the game to know how bad it will be in the end.”

I.I.I. said the largest event in U.S. history was in May 1999, when tornadoes and storms struck 18 states and cost insurers $1.6 billion. The next largest loss was a 1974 tornado event that amounted to $1.5 billion in losses. Both figures are in 2002 dollars.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, May 12, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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Heartland Tornadoes Are Worst In Years

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