Storm damage in the U.S. in May will cost insurers at least $4 billion, says Aon Benfield's Impact Forecasting.

Impact Forecasting's monthly global report of catastrophes focuses primarily on the U.S.—with a stretch of severe weather and tornadoes May 18-22 leading all events for the month.

This time period included the EF5 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma that destroyed up to 13,000 homes and structures and caused at least $2.5 billion in insured losses from more than 100,000 claims.

At the end of the month another round of storms covering the Midwest to the Northeast caused more than $1 billion in insured losses on more than 50,000 claims. This system included a major hailstorm in Amarillo, Texas.

The Insurance Council of Texas says the city was pelted with hail the size of baseballs and puts the insured losses from the storm at $400 million.

May also included at least 25 tornadoes May 15-17, which included an EF4 in Granbury, Texas and an EF3 in Cleburne, Texas. ICT says puts a preliminary estimate of losses at $250 million. Additional tornadoes caused damage in Louisiana and Alabama during this time.

“After a relatively benign start to the month, tornado activity became much more prevalent during the last two weeks,” says Steve Jakubowski, president of Impact Forecasting. “High insurance penetration will help to alleviate the pressure on those affected, and the recovery is already well underway.”

Elsewhere, tornadoes in Italy and Russia are estimated to have caused $13.1 million and $3.2 million in economic losses, respectively.

Billions of dollars in economic losses are expected from extensive flooding in Central Europe, with significant damage in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Switzerland.

Special Reports /

Aon Benfield: At Least $4B in Insured Losses from May Storms in U.S.

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