Claims are piling up from extreme weather in the Southeast and Midwest that has kept insurers busy evaluating many thousands of damaged and destroyed homes.

In St. Louis, a massive tornado with winds of at least 166 mph rumbled through the northwest side of the city on April 22, leaving thousands of damaged homes.

It was the strongest tornado in more than 40 years in St. Louis County, says the National Weather Service (NWS).

Risk modeler Risk Management Solutions (RMS) says the tornado was classified as a 4 on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale, meaning it had winds of between 166 mph and 200 mph. The Lambert-St. Louis International Airport sustained heavy damage, RMS says. The worst damage was reported in Maryland Heights, Bridgeton, St. Ann, Edmundson, Berkeley and Ferguson, as well as in Madison County near Granite City, according to NWS. More than 2,000 homes have been damaged in St. Louis County, RMS says.

State Farm spokesman Jim Camoriano says the insurer has received 800 total claims. About 600 are homeowners claims and, of them, more than 100 are from homes that are deemed uninhabitable.

One structure classified as uninhabitable is a State Farm agency in Bridgeton, Camoriano adds.

“[The agency] is near Interstate 70. Across the highway was a building made of sheet metal. This tornado ripped off the metal, threw it across the highway and wrapped it around a tree like a grapevine,” Camoriano adds, lending pespective of the storm's power. “The tops of trees along the [tornado's] path were sheared off.”

According to the NWS, one tornado touched down in Bridgeton, Mo., about 15 miles from the St. Louis central business district. No injuries or fatalities have been reported. Another tornado, an EF1, hit New Melle in St. Charles County.

Large hail was also reported, says NWS.

On April 23, insurer American Family already reported getting 350 claims, including 24 from homes that are destroyed or heavily damaged.

Spokesman Steve Witmer says the company is taking stock of the damages along the long, narrow path of destruction. The company is doling out checks to policyholders for additional living expenses.

“It was a holiday weekend, and many areas were restricted since power lines were down, so we expect claims will be coming through for some time,” he says. “We have a major claims operation in the area, so we came together quickly and got up and running, getting to the most severely hit first.”

Jerry Davies, spokesman for Farmers Insurance, part of the Zurich Insurance Group, says its companies have received 230 total claims as of noon April 22. About 205 claims are property claims, he adds.

Meanwhile, the South has seen significant damage over an entire week from severe weather that struck from Oklahoma to the Carolinas starting on April 19 and continuing through April 27.

Most recently, claims are rolling in from states affected by more than 100 reports of tornadoes that caused nearly 200 deaths in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia on April 27. Just during that day, State Farm received 3,300 homeowners and auto claims from Alabama, more than 800 from Mississippi, and more than 400 from Georgia, according to spokesman David Majors.

In Arkansas, State Farm says it received more than 3,000 automobile claims and about 2,250 homeowners claims from tornadoes and storms that raged during the week.

Those numbers “will increase significantly” as claims continue to come in from storms on April 25 as well as from hail late April 26, says State Farm spokesman Gary Stephenson.

Alabama, Mississippi and Texas were also among states to be affected by severe weather late April 26 into early April 27.

Shelter Insurance spokesman Joe Moseley says about 2,135 property claims and about 1,225 auto claims have been filed in Arkansas as of April 26. The regional insurer operates in 13 states, mostly in the middle part of the U.S., and it is currently racing to address policyholder needs and handle claims.

“We're used to a lot of activity this time of year, but I'd have to say this is more than normal,” Moseley says. “It's so widespread. The only middle state we're not super active in right now is Louisiana.”

USAA, which serves the military and their families, says it's responding by setting up an onsite claims location at Little Rock Air Force Base, which was also affected by the recent storms. Spokeswoman Rebecca Hirsch says the insurer continues to operate an onsite location near Fort Bragg in North Carolina to handle claims from tornadoes earlier this month. More than 3,300 claims have been filed here as of April 22, she adds.

Special Reports /

Storms, Tornadoes Continue To Cause Havoc In South, Midwest

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