Modeling firm estimates recent severe storm insured losses at $5.5 billion

A report from the Insurance Journal. And remember, overall economic losses will be much larger: Insured loss estimates from the storms that hit the Southern and Southeastern United States in late April total between $3.7 billion and $5.5 billion, says catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. Insured losses account for damages to residential, commercial and industrial properties and their contents, as well as damage to automobiles resulting from severe storms from April 22-28, 2011.

AIR’s insured loss estimates reflect insured physical damage to property, both structures and their contents; additional living expenses (ALE) for residential claims; and business interruption losses. Loss estimates do not reflect non-modeled losses, including loss adjustment expenses.

One week after a violent severe weather outbreak, thousands of disaster response personnel and inspectors remain on the ground to provide emergency relief and security, perform damage assessments, clear debris, and plan recovery efforts. The death toll from the events of April 25–28 is currently estimated at 354 across seven states, and thousands have been left homeless when entire neighborhoods were flattened to the ground. It is the second deadliest severe thunderstorm outbreak in U.S. history, after the Tri-State tornado outbreak of 1925…

The aftermath of a tornado that destroyed Tuscaloosa, AL on April 27th, 2011. Shot by AlabamaAandM, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication