A powerful storm system hit the Midwest on Nov. 17, trailing lightning, hail, high winds and heavy rain the next morning. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) registered more than 60 tornado touchdowns in several states, along with straight-line winds as fast as 85 miles per hour and baseball-sized hail. At least eight people perished, and some communities were “flattened out,” according to onlookers.

Aon Benfield says Nov. 17 provided “highly conducive” atmospheric conditions for explosive thunderstorm development. Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky bore the brunt of the storm's damage, which the SPC says at its peak threatened more than 53 million people in ten states.

“This is very unusual for this time of year,” Jeff Ormond, Allstate spokesperson for the insurer's regional office overseeing Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, told PC360. “Usually the region would see like weather in the warmer months of May through September. We did have tornados in Henryville, Indiana and Dexter, Michigan in March 2012, which was very unusual at that time too.”

Illinois saw the worst devastation, says Aon. National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists recorded an EF-4 twister that completely wiped a farmhouse off its foundation, killing an elderly man and his sister. An EF-2 tornado tracked across Grundy and Will counties, and a deadly tornado in the Peoria region destroyed homes and an apartment complex.

Thunderstorms, hail and thousands of power outages in the Chicago area grounded flights at O'Hare and midway international airports and delayed an NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

At least 12 counties in Indiana reported tornado damage, with states of emergency declared in Howard County, home to the towns of Kokomo, Russiaville and Greentown. Severe damage was also reported in Lafayette, Washington and Lebanon cities. One tornado in Logansport caused gas leaks that prompted several complexes to be evacuated.

Eight Kentucky counties reported tornado touchdowns. The Great Lakes were also affected, primarily by winds that left 253,000 customers without electricity in Michigan. Similar winds as fast as 70 mph were recorded in Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

While it is too early to tell the full scope of the losses, Loretta Worters, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, expects that “hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.”

“Claims adjusters have already begun to help policyholders file claims,” says Jim Whittle, chief claims counsel for the American Insurance Association. “AIA's member companies have begun communicating with policyholders through a variety of channels, including Facebook and Twitter.”

Until Sunday, economic and insured losses from severe weather in 2013—the quietest U.S. tornado year since 1988—were slightly below the 10-year average, records the Storm Prediction Center. U.S. thunderstorms cost $14.9 billion insured losses in 2012, reports Munich Re. The United States experiences more tornadoes than any other country worldwide.

Special Reports /

November Tornadoes, Severe Storms Devastate Midwest

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