Insured losses from late April convective storms expected to hit $1 billion

Insured losses from severe convective storm outbreaks that hit the central U.S. April 25-28 are expected to reach $1 billion, according to a report Wednesday from Gallagher Re, the reinsurance unit of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Tornadoes caused significant damage in parts of Nebraska, Iowa and Oklahoma as eight tornadoes reached EF3 or higher intensity, including an EF4 near Marietta, Oklahoma. The late April events spawned at least 106 tornadoes across nine states, the report said.

This added to an already busy year for natural catastrophe activity with first-quarter insured losses estimated to be at least $20 billion, much of which is due to SCS activity and hail.

“U.S. SCS activity through April has resulted in a minimum of $14 billion in insured losses, and this total is going to keep rising as damage surveys remain ongoing and insurers continue to process claims during the last four months of above-average SCS activity,” Steve Bowen, Chicago-based chief science officer with Gallagher Re, said in a statement.

He added that the U.S. is well on its way to a 9th consecutive year of insured SCS losses reaching the $20 billion threshold, which he called a “new normal.”