NU Online News Service, May 4, 3:12 p.m.EDT--U.S. property-casualty insurers are expected to payhomeowners and businesses an estimated $2.1 billion for insuredproperty-loss claims from eight catastrophes in the first quarter,according to preliminary estimates by the Property Claims Servicesunit of the Jersey City-based Insurance Services Office.

The loss figure is the second costliest since the first quarterof 1996 when the industry suffered losses of $2.6 billion.First-quarter catastrophe losses in the year-ago period were $1.04billion.

PCS estimated that the eight catastrophes will generate 535,000claims from policyholders in 28 states--61 percent of which arepersonal property, 14 percent commercial property and 25 percentvehicle claims.

The quarter's costliest catastrophe was the late Marchthunderstorms that pummeled the south and east coasts for anestimated $655 million in losses.

Texas, at $565 million, headed the list of the five mostseverely affected states, followed by California at $275 million,Georgia at $220 million, Alabama at $150 million, and Pennsylvaniaat $120 million.