Aon: insured losses from April severe weather in U.S. to breach $4 billion

Aon Benfield agree with industry estimates for insured losses caused by the outbreak of severe convective weather across the U.S. in April. The record breaking thunderstorm and tornado outbreaks have caused devastation across U.S. midwest and southeastern states during the past month.

The estimate has been published in Aon Benfields latest Monthly Cat Recap report published by their Impact Forecasting catastrophe modelling arm. The report says that five separate severe weather outbreaks have been responsible for losses in excess of $4 billion according to data from individual states.

The initial outbreak Aon recorded as the 3rd to 5th April, they say this triggered around 1,500 storm reports and resulted in more than 250,000 insurance claims, which will result in insured losses of around $1.25 billion.

The second outbreak generated over 300,000 insurance claims across the Midwest, Plains and Southeast. They believe this outbreak will result in insured losses of over $1.35 billion.

The final outbreak from the 22nd to 28th April caused the most damage. It was this spell of weather which has caused tornado records to be broken, including 178 tornadoes in a 24 hour period, and caused damage across Alabama and Mississippi. State insurance agencies have already recorded insured losses of over $1.3 billion from this period including $1 billion from Alabama alone.

It’s still unknown whether there could be any impact to severe thunderstorm exposed catastrophe bonds from this devastating period of weather although at this time it is thought unlikely.

Steve Jakubowski, President of Impact Forecasting, said: “While tornadoes and their associated weather activity are a common occurrence in these regions at this time of year, no one could have expected such an intense series of storms and the consequent level of destruction that was witnessed during April. The scale and ferocity of these weather systems has defined them as historic events, and, as has been the case for other natural perils during the past 12 months or so, large insured losses incurred outside of traditional peak peril zones will no doubt be causing some re/insurers to review their global exposures to weather risk.”

The report covers other disasters which have occurred in the past month including wildfires in Texas, severe thunderstorms in Brazil, hailstorms in China, storms in Europe and flood events in Asia. You can download the full report here.