Denver Ranks as Most Twisted

According to a recent study, Denver tops the list of the metro areas most vulnerable to tornadoes in America.

The list is based on RiskMeter Online's tornado model, which predicts the severity of tornadoes for any location in the continental United States.

Tornado exposure has and will always be a consistent threat to insurers. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in an average year the U.S. experiences 1,200 tornadoes, which kills 55 Americans, injures 1,500, and causes more than $400 million in damage. Tornadoes and related weather events caused an average of $4.9 billion in property/casualty claims each year from 2001 to 2007, according to an A.M. Best study.

Based on first-quarter estimates and tornado activity thus far this year, meteorologists are projecting 2008 to be an expensive year for tornado damage. There were about $850 million in insured damages alone from the “Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak” in the South in early February.

The costliest year for tornadoes was 2006, with more than $8 billion in insured damages. The A.M. Best study found that tornado losses are approaching those of hurricanes, with insured damages of $1 billion or more from a single event becoming more common.

The top ten tornado prone metro-areas are as follows:

Denver, CO*

Houston, TX

Miami, FL

Hollywood, FL

Tampa, FL

Lincoln, IL

Lakeland, FL

Little Rock, AR

Cape Coral, FL

Oklahoma City, OK

*Not downtown, but a rural area to the northeast.

For a free copy of the RiskMeter Tornado report, e-mail dmunson@cdsys.com