Severe May weather hits insurers worldwide
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Severe weather caused billions of dollars in insured losses across the globe during May, according to a report Thursday from Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development unit.
Severe weather hit the central region of the United States from April 30 to May 3, the report said. Large hail, tornados and straight-line winds caused “substantial” damage in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin, leading to public and private insurers paying claims worth up to $725 million, the report said.
Clusters of severe thunderstorms in the United States from May 12-16 caused substantial damage from the Rockies to the Northeast, the report said, including the Baltimore, New York City and Washington, D.C., areas. Hail larger than baseballs, damaging straight-line winds with gusts over 70 mph and isolated tornado touchdowns led to insured losses for public and private insurance “likely” to exceed $1 billion, the report said.
Two days of severe weather May 4-5 in parts of Ontario and Quebec with straight-line winds, large hail, and isolated flash flooding caused damage in major metro areas of Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City and Toronto, the report said, leading to the insurance industry paying out nearly $325 million in claims, the report said.
Thunderstorms hit much of Central and Western Europe May 25-31, leading to isolated flooding, large hail, and damaging winds in France, Germany and Switzerland. Insurers will pay “a large portion” of the costs expected to be in the hundreds of millions euros.
Despite the damages, the report made mention of the low level of tornado activity so far this year.
“It is worth noting that the U.S. is in the midst of one of the quietest starts for tornadoes,” the report said. “Fewer than 450 tornadoes were reported as of June 1, putting 2018 in the lowest 25% of years dating to 1950.”
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April storms hit insurers with billions in claims
Public and private insurers are expected to pay at least $1.5 billion in claims resulting from severe weather in the U.S. during April, according to a report Wednesday from catastrophe modeler Impact Forecasting, part of Aon Benfield Group Ltd.
