Aon expects economic losses to once again exceed $1 billion, after severe thunderstorms and flooding continued to impact Central and Eastern areas of the U.S through the week of May 24-30. The broker anticipates that insurers and reinsurers will cover the majority of wind and hail-related damage during this period. Losses will follow an extremely active month for tornado activity in the U.S, which experienced more than 250 tornadoes in April, causing more than $1 billion in insured losses. In the past week, a further 150 confirmed tornadoes occurred, causing three fatalities around El Reno, Oklahoma and Celina, Ohio. Among the hardest-hit areas included parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, and elsewhere in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Nearly 100 others were injured by the tornadoes, as well as other serve weather events, including large hail, damaging straight-line winds, and historic river flooding along the Arkansas River persisted. Some parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri recorded between 10 to 18 inches of rainfall over a two-week stretch, causing dozens of river gauges in each state to reach major, moderate or minor flood stage. Areas around Oklahoma City and Tulsa saw floodwater inundation in some homes reach 8 fee in height, while states of emergency were declared across several regions. An initial report by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management cited more than 1,000 homes with flood damage, and that total is expected to rise as assessments continue. The flooding is also expected to cause significant damage to the agricultural sector, with saturated soil and delayed planting likely to result in severely reduced yields for some crops. Outside of the U.S Aon’s report highlighted potential insured losses from the magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck northern Peru on May 26, which destroyed 207 homes and damaged a further 1,419 buildings. Flooding was also recorded across Afghanistan, India, China and Uganda, while extreme drought continued to affect Angola and Japan experienced an unseasonal heatwave.
Economic losses from recent severe thunderstorms and flooding in central and eastern portions of the US may exceed $ 1bn , according to estimates from Aon . The storms took place in the week of 24 - 30 May. This is the second - consecutive month that the nation has seen large losses from extreme weather , with damages from more than 250 tornadoes in April costing roughly $ 200 in insured losses . congress expects insurers and retailers to cover the costs .