March’s violent U.S. weather is expected to cost insurers over $2 billion, as the first quarter of 2017 saw an above-average number of storms, reinsurance intermediary Aon Benfield said Friday.

Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, said in the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report that four significant outbreaks of severe thunderstorms caused extensive damage in central and eastern parts of the country.

The most prolific outbreak during March 6-10 resulted in major damage from tornadoes, large hail and straight-line winds in the Plains, Midwest and Southeast. 

Total economic losses for this event alone were estimated at $1.7 billion, Aon Benfield said, while public and private insurance claims were listed at $1.2 billion. The aggregated cost to the insurance industry from the four events was expected to exceed $2 billion.

The other thunderstorm events occurred March 20-22, March 26-28, March 28-31.

Other big U.S. weather events in March included a deep freeze in the Southeast that caused an estimated $1 billion in crop damage in South Carolina and Georgia, plus major wildfires in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Worldwide weather losses

Elsewhere, Aon Benfield said Cyclone Debbie made landfall in Australia, causing flooding that killed 10 people in southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales. 

The Insurance Council of Australia declared an insurance catastrophe following extensive wind and flood damage, and preliminary data indicated that 35,370 claims had been initially filed, with insurance payouts exceeding $310 million and expected to rise.

Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting director and meteorologist, said there were other major occurrences in emerging areas for the industry. 

“For instance,” Mr. Bowen said in a statement, “a phenomenon deemed a ‘coastal El Niño’ was blamed (for) catastrophic flooding in both Peru and Colombia, highlighting that there remain areas around the world where insurance can play a critical role in helping people in the aftermath of a disaster.”

Other severe events during March included separate severe weather outbreaks that killed 19 people in Ghana, damaged thousands of homes in Thailand, and caused extensive damage to property and agriculture in southwestern China’s Yunnan province. Mr. Bowen said in an email that economic damages totaled $28 million.

Windstorm Zeus came ashore in France, killing two people and leading to widespread wind damage. Total economic and insured losses were expected to well exceed $100 million.