NU Online News Service, March 7, 3:05 p.m. EST

Officials describe scenes of total devastation from a series of tornadoes that blanketed the Midwest last week, while insurers continue to tally up the cost of losses from the severe storms.

Among the storms that hit the Midwest on March 2, the National Weather Service reports a single tornado touched ground through 49 miles from southern Indiana and northern Kentucky, killing 10 people along its path.

Allstate spokesperson Jeff Ormond describes the scene in southern Indiana as "widespread devastation."

Allstate's initial response team arrived in Henryville, Ind., one of the hard-hit towns on the tornado's path, on March 3 "to seek out our customers to check on them and help them start filing the claims process."

Ormond describes the damage as being a "wide range, from significant hail damage to homes on the outer skirts of Henryville," to homes in the hardest-struck parts of the town being "turned to rubble."

"It is too early to tell" how many claims will be filed by southern Indiana residents, Ormond says.

"For the areas where the tornadoes hit and stayed on the ground, the devastation is absolute," reports Roger Ronk, executive vice president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana. "It is too early to estimate the dollar amount of the losses, but there is a significant amount of damage."

Friday's storms hit Kentucky particularly hard as well, with President Barack Obama granting disaster declaration in seven Kentucky counties that suffered significant damage.

According to Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, "damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

"Kentucky families were hit hard by the devastation caused by these storms and tornadoes, and recovery will be a long process," he continues.

Also affected by Friday's severe weather was the state of Georgia. The state's Insurance Commissioner Ralph T. Hudgens estimates insured losses has now reached approximately $40 million.

As of March 6, State Farm reported it has received a total of 11,700 claims—6,700 home and 5,000 auto—from the storms that hit on March 2 alone. The company reports that in Illinois alone, from the storm system that hit there a few days prior, they have recorded 300 home and 62 auto claims.

In Illinois, where the tornado that devastated the town of Harrisburg on Feb. 28, Mark Terry, assistant director of consumer education with the Illinois Department of Insurance, says between 250 to 300 homes were heavily damaged or destroyed on the Southeast side of the town.

He compares the damage to the worst tornado that hit the state in 2004 that practically wiped-out the town of Utica, with a population of 800 people. Harrisburg is a larger town with a population of more than 9,500.

He says the clean-up is still on-going and people are in the initial stages of filing insurance claims. Consumer questions about coverage and claim payments will probably start this weekend as people begin to get responses from their carriers and discover gaps in their coverage.

Overall, the department has been pleased with the response from insurers and there appears to be little delay in carriers getting claims representatives out to customers, he says.

Terry says insurers appear to have learned from past experience about the need to respond quickly to their customers.

"Companies want to keep their good name," says Terry. "They want to get in there and take care of their customers to make sure they are happy, and when the consumer is happy, we're happy."

Yesterday, catastrophe modeler EQECAT says the severe weather during the period Feb. 28 to March 3 produced an estimated $1 to $2 billion in insured losses.

Special Reports /

Scenes of Devastation Throughout Ind. & Ky. in Tornado Aftermath

Related Stories

Recommended For You