While the extent of damage caused by three tornadoes that struck southeastern Virginia Monday is still unknown, one catastrophe modeling firm said that insured losses will not likely reach a point where it would issue an estimate.
Meanwhile, one insurer in the area described the claims level, as of now, as "moderate."
According to AIR Worldwide, the tornadoes damaged a 25-mile path through Colonial Heights, Bunswick County, and Suffolk, injuring over 200 residents. The tornadoes caused power outages, and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency for the area, AIR added.
Tim, Doggett, senior research scientist at AIR, said the tornadoes were spawned by a cold front that moved through the Mid-Atlantic States.
"The cold front interacted with warm, humid air that had developed due to daytime heating along the coastline," Mr. Doggett said. "At the same time, the jet stream over this region produced significant levels of wind shear and allowed developing thunderstorms to spawn several tornadoes.
"Fortunately, cloud cover during the day limited the amount of instability in the air mass and mitigated the extent of this thunderstorm outbreak."
AIR said that the tornado that struck was described as "major" by a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Mr. Doggett said that meteorologists are still determining that tornado's intensity, but he noted, "If the Suffolk tornado is declared an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, as some meteorologists are suggesting, it will be the strongest tornado to hit Virginia in nearly 60 years."
A spokesman for AIR said that while a research team is still examining the damages, the general feeling is that the tornadoes will be considered an isolated micro-event, and insured losses will not reach a significant enough level for AIR to issue an insured loss estimate.
While there was significant damage in parts of the affected areas, including a mall that was struck, the spokesman said, "Based on what I'm hearing from our research staff, I don't believe it's going to warrant a loss estimate."
Jen Alvarez, assistant manager of public affairs for State Farm, said that it is still too early to make predictions on losses, but she said that as of this morning, "we have right around 200 claims reported." She added that the company has deployed its catastrophe services team in the area because of "the severity of, not all, but some of the claims we received."
Mike Switzer, spokesperson for Nationwide, said, "We know that we've had about 90 claims filed from customers across the state." He noted that the company is monitoring the situation in case the number of claims jumps as people return to their houses, but as of now, he said that the level of claims filed is moderate.
A spokesman for Travelers noted that the company does not generally give out loss estimates, but he said, "We are seeing the full gamut that anybody can expect with a tornado." Some claims are for minimal damage, he said, while others are severe. "So it's all over the board," he said.
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