According to a recent Guy Carpenter catastrophe information report, a severe winter storm that affected 17 states in the past week has left more than half a million homes and businesses without power. The heavy weight of the ice is believed to be the cause of most of the power outages with snapped tree branches, shorted out transformers, and sagging power lines.

Insurance Day reported that ISO's Property Claim Services (PCS) has already declared the event a catastrophe because losses are expected to exceed $25 million. PCS declared a catastrophe after receiving several claims from Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Insurance Day said business interruption claims are likely to be considerable due to the widespread loss of power and losses are likely to rise significantly.

Reports said that affected states include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Texas, and Utah.

The event, which the National Weather Service has called the worst storm in 50 years, has claimed the lives of more than 65 people.

Sources: Associated Press, Agence France Presse, BBC News, CNN News, Insurance Day

This report was reprinted with permission. For more CAT-i reports, go to www.guycarp.com.

Interested in more catastrophe news and in-depth articles? Head over to Claims' catastrophe channel for more information.

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