NU Online News Service, May 26, 10:08 a.m. EDT
Ohio suffered $123 million in damages from two severe storms in April, with the month likely to be known as one of the "most active and destructive months for severe weather in U.S. history," the Ohio Insurance Institute says.
OII officials say in a preliminary estimate that the storms generated 23,600 claims.
"This has been an unusually harsh quarter for storms across the U.S.," says Daniel J. Kelso, OII president. "We're seeing estimated losses [for the U.S.] from the April 22-28 severe thunderstorm outbreak in the $3.7 billion to $5.5 billion range…, not including other weather-related disasters."
According to Kelso, Ohio was part of four major disasters during the first quarter—two in February and two in April.
The OII says high winds, tornadoes and hail April 19-20 in the state caused at least $43 million in insured losses, with more than 8,100 claims filed to date.
Just two days later, the April 22-28 outbreak affecting Ohio along with a dozen other states caused at least $80 million in insured losses with 15,500 claims statewide, according to preliminary estimates from ISO's Property Claim Services, the OII says.
Storm-loss estimates don't include flood-insurance related losses, notes the OII.
According to data from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) there were 875 preliminary tornado reports across the country.
The final count will likely approach or supersede the all-time monthly record of 542 tornadoes once all storm surveys are completed. SPC notes that many of April's tornadoes have been rated weak (EF-0 and EF-1) due to improved detection and verification methodologies currently employed by the National Weather Service.
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