NU Online News Service, July 2, 2:52 p.m.EDT

A storm system wreaked havoc over the mid-Atlantic region overthe weekend, causing wide spread destruction, while firefighters inColorado made some headway against a major wildfire that hasconsumed close to 18,000 acres and forced thousands to evacuatetheir homes.

Over the weekend, a derecho, described as a long lived andwidespread line of violent, straight-line windstorms, struck theeastern central United States, reports Risk ManagementSolutions.

At the peak of the storm, which ranged from New Jersey south toNorth Carolina and west to Iowa and Illinois, high winds and felledtrees had left 4 million customers without power.

Hundreds of thousands were still without power on Monday,including 600,000 in Virginia and Washington, D.C. alone.

One report puts the death toll from the stormsat 18.

RMS did not issue an insured-loss estimate, but reports saypower outages in some areas are expected to last days, which wouldaffect business-interruption policies.

Columbus, Ohio-based insurer Nationwide says today that, as oflate Sunday, it has received 4,804 claims. The company'scatastrophe team continue to assess damage to homes, businesses andautos throughout the impacted region.

In Colorado, the weather situation helped firefighters get ahandle on the Waldo Canyon Fire that has forced more than 30,000people from their homes, says RMS.

The U.S. Forest Services Incident Information System says that347 structures were lost to the fire so far. Reports say that twopeople were found dead in one home.

As of this morning, 10,000 residencies remained threatened alongwith 100 commercial structures.

The good news is that the fire is now 55 percent contained andthe fire service estimates that it will have full containment byJuly 12. The combination of higher humidity and cooler temperatureshas allowed firefighters to gain the upper hand.

The wildfire, west of Colorado Springs, began on June 23. Thecause is still under investigation.

An insurance industry representative has said it's been impossiblefor adjusters to get into the affected areas because of the ongoingfire, but a few claims have trickled in.

Another Colorado wildfire, the High Park Fire, claimed a totalof 259 residencies and is now 100 percent contained.

Between the two fires, Colorado has lost 606 homes andcommercial structures.

A spokesman for State Farm says as of today the company hasreceived a total of 369 homeowner claims, 136 of which are a totalloss. Of that number, 205 claims are from the Waldo Canyon fire. Ofthat figure, 59 are a total loss.

He says claims ajusters are continuing to meet withpolicyholders and set-up appointments to inspect the homes. Moreclaims are expected as more homeowners return to their home, hesaid.

This story was updated at 3:30 p.m. EDT