“So what's the difference between a tornado warning and a tornado watch?” my friend asked.

Hunkered down in the basement, we became engrossed in the surrounding towers of bulk toilet paper and cleaning supplies, chattering nervously. We had just sufficiently wiped clean the remnants of a bridal shower when the sky grew ominous. It was the evening of November 17, and we waited as sirens wailed and lights flickered. Heavy rains and ferocious “straight line” winds were pulsing through our Cincinnati, Ohio suburb.

Rattled homeowners reported a storm that “hit like an earthquake,” downing trees and leaving more than 33,000 locals without power. Proprietors in nearby northern Kentucky city of Newport said “bricks were raining” down a sidewalk. But we knew little of our relative good fortune at that point.

It would be morning before we would realize that we were extremely lucky. That happened upon reading the trajectory of the deadly storm system that pummeled the Midwest. We soon learned that neighboring states had fared far worse: At least eight lives were taken; residential enclaves were flattened; and thousands of dwellings either badly damaged or virtually swallowed by the strange tempest that rudely interrupted an otherwise sluggish U.S. catastrophe season.

At press time, weather experts determined the storm system had spawned more than 60 tornadoes, including two of the most powerful November tornadoes that far north for more than 100 years. The outbreak would go down as the most significant day of tornadoes in 2013.

Kevin Roth, lead meteorologist at The Weather Channel, told reporters that Nov. tornadoes do not usually happen that far north, saying “we usually have one outbreak like this every 10 years or so, but primarily south of the Ohio River.”

Roth added the last time tornadoes of such strength hit the area that late in the season was on Nov. 11 and 12 in 1911, when a cold front hit the Great Lakes, causing one EF4 tornado and nine deaths.

There were 101 tornado warnings in Illinois on Nov. 17, or more than the state has seen in every November combined since 1986. One of the two EF4 tornadoes recorded that Sunday devastated large swaths of Washington, Ill., a town of 16,000 people some 140 miles from Chicago. Clocking wind speeds as fast as 200 miles per hour, the twister verged on EF5 territory. Authorities the next day would also double their initial estimate to 1,000 homes either severely damage or destroyed by the tempest.

In its initial loss estimate, Risk Management Solutions (RMS) told Reuters that property damage across the region might reach $1 billion, with the most extensive damage found in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri.

Let me say that it seems almost miraculous that direct physical trauma to humans was largely minimized when a string of powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes howled across a whopping 12 states, crushing entire neighborhoods in mere minutes. This is arguably a testament to some uncannily accurate forecasting (a stark contrast to the hurricane predictions of late, eh CSU?) and improved safety and communication protocols, including warnings disseminated via Twitter and other social media outlets.

Of course, the story—and nightmare for many insureds and claims professionals—has only just begun. I imagine in the days, weeks and months to come, news of other, for lack of a better term “little miracles” will trickle in, with adjusters leading the way and doing that other thing they do best—helping rebuild lives and instilling hope. May this holiday season keep them all safe and warm.

Special Reports /

The Sound and the Fury in the Midwest

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