Tornado damage estimate $1.1B, Croatia quake $300M: Aon

March tornadoes in Tennessee caused $1.1 billion in damages, and a powerful earthquake in Croatia in March caused almost $300 million in estimated damages, according to a report Thursday from Aon PLC’s Impact Forecasting.

Deadly tornadoes, including an EF4 and EF3, tracked across central Tennessee on March 3, killing at least 25 people, injuring nearly 300 and damaging or destroying more than 4,000 homes and businesses. All fatalities occurred within the Nashville area.

The Nashville outbreak was part of a broad storm system that spawned additional reports of tornadoes and large hail in Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas from March 2-5.

Total economic losses were estimated in excess of $1.1 billion, with roughly three-quarters covered by insurance, Impact said.

Severe thunderstorms struck the Plains, Midwest, Southeast and Northeast from March 17-20. Widespread hail and wind damage hit Texas hardest, and tornadoes affected northern sections including Dallas-Fort Worth, Impact said.

Insurers paid out roughly $225 million, the majority of total economic losses that neared $300 million.

A magnitude-5.4 earthquake on March 22 struck north of Zagreb, Croatia, its strongest earthquake in 140 years.

At least 1,900 buildings were marked as unusable and initial assessments said 26,197 objects reported damage and were being inspected through late March.

Although precise estimates have yet to be released, rough estimates from the local government placed the economic loss at around $289 million.

The government’s financial services regulator suspended insurance company dividend payments in Croatia to help assure liquidity.