Last week's catastrophic bad weather along the East Coast, which included tornados and hail storms, has caused hundreds of millions in insurance claims to be filed, leaving insurance companies and independents scrambling to address the sudden workload.

Officials in Georgia said that the city of Atlanta was the most significantly affected area, due to a Category EF-2 tornado that touched down in the city's downtown area, the first time a tornado has struck the city since record keeping began. A tornado of this class can average up to 135 mph wind speeds.

John Oxendine, the state's insurance and safety fire commissioner, said in a statement that estimated insured losses for the city could reach as high as $250 million, much of it stemming from commercial policies for the buildings located in this dense region. The World Congress Center — the fourth largest convention center in the U.S. — reportedly took the brunt of the tornado strike and suffered up to $100 million in damages.

“That [$250 million] figure includes damage from across the state, such as Polk and Bartow Counties,

where damage was quite extensive,” said Oxendine, in a release. “This storm caused the largest loss yet

recorded in our state for tornado damage.”

South Carolina also suffered damage intense damage during storm activity last week, but escaped the kind of carnage evident in Georgia. The South Carolina Insurance News Service said that tornado and hail damage has produced $43 million in property damage for more than 11,000 insurance claims. They said that the average claim was ranging between $3,000 and $5,000 for homeowners' claims.

A natural disaster is deemed a catastrophe when losses exceed $25 million.

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

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