SEVERE US WEATHER CAUSES HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF ECONOMIC LOSSES

Severe weather across the eastern two-thirds of the US last week caused hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses, with the majority of the damage being insured, Aon’s Impact Forecasting catastrophe modelling unit has reported. The convective storms generated large hail, tornadoes and straight-line winds that heavily damaged property and agriculture. While dozens of tornado touchdowns were reported in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas, the bulk of the damage was caused by large hail across Plains states. Other storms caused non-tornadic wind damage across northeastern states. Aon said damages could have been much higher, but most of the storm activity occurred away from heavily populated and exposed urban areas.