The average tornado moves at less than 35 miles per hour and lasts just a few minutes—but on May 20 an EF5 tornado more than mile wide, packing 166- to 200-mph winds, ripped through the suburbs of Oklahoma City for 40 minutes and laid to waste the 55,000-population city of Moore.
More than two dozen residents were killed in the twister's path, but the toll is expected to rise as more bodies are recovered in the wreckage. In the days that followed, some 240 more were listed as injured, including at least 60 children.
Many of the juvenile deaths occurred when the tornado directly hit and demolished the Plaza Towers Elementary School, trapping those huddling inside and drowning seven students in the basement. An additional elementary school, a hospital and scores of homes were razed.
The cost of the resulting damage could top more than $2 billion, according to a preliminary official estimate by the Oklahoma Insurance Department—and could end up being even more costly than the $2 billion in damage from the 2011 tornado that killed 158 people in Joplin, Mo.
Moore was ravaged by an EF5 tornado back in May 1999, the strongest twister in recorded history and one of the costliest. With wind speeds of about 318 mph, it killed 36 people near Oklahoma City and caused $1 billion in losses.
The day after the most recent disaster, USAA spokeswoman Nicole Alley said the carrier had received approximately 350 auto and homeowners claims but anticipated more calls as cell towers come back online. By May 21 USAA had 120 adjusters on the ground.
State Farm media contact Jim Camoriano said on May 21 that responders were not yet letting claims people into the hardest-hit areas as the search for survivors continued.
"We did get a call from an agent who had a policyholder whose house was blown off its foundation and destroyed," said Camoriano. "The family's son or daughter was walking through rubble and saw piece of paper sticking out; it was their homeowner's policy. That's how she knew where to call for help."
Meanwhile, mid-May tornadoes in north-central Texas also damaged multiple homes, killing six people and injuring 100. As many as 10 twisters touched down after nightfall on May 15 in Hood, Johnson and Ellis counties, destroying homes, scattering trailers and dumping softball-sized hail.
Granbury, a city some 40 miles from Fort Worth, was the hardest hit when a tornado touched down around 8 p.m., leaving behind six fatalities and reports of 14 missing people.
A mile-wide twister tore through the nearby city of Cleburne, damaging roofs and houses but causing no confirmed deaths.
State Farm as of late May 16 said it has received 1,073 auto claims and 2,102 homeowner claims. The damages were caused by high wind and large hail concentrated in Granbury, Cleburne, and Mineral Wells.
"April through June is the height of our storm season in Texas," says Mark Hanna, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas. "The Dallas-Fort Worth area continues to get pounded."
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