Powerful thunderstorms caused major flooding and damage in Texas and Oklahoma during May, killing 41 people in the wettest May on record.
Total aggregated severe thunderstorm and flood economic losses are expected to cost $3 billion, with overall insured losses set to exceed $1 billion, according to Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield's catastrophe model development team in its monthly Global Castastrophe Recap report. Aon Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc.
In addition, severe weather prompted 412 preliminary reports of tornadoes by the U.S. Storm prediction Center–this equals the highest monthly number of U.S. tornadoes since April 2011. The heaviest damage was reported in the Plains states, with Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Nebraska enduring softball-sized hail, record-breaking rainfall and straight-line winds. Twelve inches of rain brought flash floods to the Oklahoma City metro area. From these events, insurers reported losses in excess of $115 million from events occurring May 3 to 5, and $550 million from severe weather occurring May 6 to 13, the report says.
Record rainfall and severe thunderstorms continued to hit the central U.S. from May 23 to 30, killing 28 people in Texas and four in Oklahoma, Impact Forecasting reports. More than 4,000 homes sustained damage in Houston, Austin and Dallas. With convective storm damage apparent from Colorado to the Northeast, economic losses topped $1 billion and insured losses are expected in the hundreds of millions.
"The rains, which were 500% greater than normal values for the month of May in some locations, led to major riverine and flash flooding in areas that had long been mired in a multi-year drought," says Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting associate director and meteorologist.
Drought conditions continued across much of the Western U.S. Total 2015 statewide economic losses in California from the drought will be more than $2.7 billion, the report says. Including damage from neighboring states, costs top $3 billion.
Global Damage
Significant flooding in China killed 81 people, damaged or destroyed nearly 100,000 homes and resulted in economic losses greater than $3 billion. Flash floods in Australia caused $280 million in damages, particularly in property and agricultural markets, the report says.
Super Typhoon Noul, which occurred in the south Pacific, caused $366,000 in damage in the Phillippines and crop losses of $23.2 million in Okinawa, Japan.
And in Nepal, China and India, a major magnitude-7.3 earthquake struck near Mount Everest, killing at least 131 people. This brings the death toll from the April 25 and May 12 earthquakes to nearly 9,000.
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