The thunderstorms in the U.S. that struck from May 20 to May 27 may have caused between $4 billion and $7 billion in insured losses, according to catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide.

AIR says the losses reflect insured physical damage to residential, commercial, and industrial properties, including to structures and contents, automobiles, additional living expenses (ALE) for residential claims, business interruption (BI) claims, and the effects of demand surge. The estimate does not reflect “non-modeled losses, including loss-adjustment expenses,” the cat modeler added.

“The month of May, normally the most active month for tornadoes, began quietly,” said Tim Doggett, principal scientist at AIR Worldwide. “For 3 weeks, only a handful of isolated tornadoes were reported. But on May 20, severe thunderstorms in eastern Texas and parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma brought high winds, hail, and five reported tornadoes. Over the next 7 days, more than 150 confirmed tornadoes raged across the heart of the country.”

Doggett said the severe weather “funneled across a corridor that stretched from Lake Superior to central Texas and east through Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and to the East Coast, impacting more than 20 states in all.”

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