Unprecedented spring storms in Ohio lead to heavy losses

June 28, 2011
By: Bruce Berry

Home insurance issuers in Ohio paid out significant totals in claim losses after a string of tornadoes rocked the state in May, and one estimate says the state could have sustained $400 million in property damage.

The Ohio Insurance Institute estimated between $322 million and $400 million in insured losses from the storms that hit the state between May 20 and May 26. It was the third-costliest storm system on record to hit Ohio, said the institute, ranking behind a 1974 super tornado outbreak and a windstorm caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008. The report added between 68,000 and 77,000 Ohio insurance claims have been filed from last month's storms, with around 38,000 of those coming from homeowners insurance claims.

It was the fifth major storm to hit Ohio in the past six months - an unprecedented streak, said OII president Dan Kelso.

"Not all insurance companies are represented by OII's survey so final losses will likely be higher than these preliminary estimates," said Kelso. "Both OII and [Property Claims Services] expect to conduct resurveys toward the end of the year to firm up insured loss information from these storms."

Property Claims Services reported the May 20-26 storms affected 19 states in all, including Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Ohio.
 

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