The insurer with the most numbers at hand was Nationwide, based in the hard-hit state of Ohio, where five of 36-reported tornado deaths occurred.

Bob Cunningham, a Nationwide spokesman in Columbus, said the company today had a little over 200 claims with an estimated payout of $2.1 million. He said the company so far had no estimates of commercial damage.

Dick Kimmins, a spokesman for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, said two counties had been declared disaster areas and "we have damage estimates from about 17 counties that indicate more than 1,000 homes or businesses with some type of damage."

He said 109 structures had been reported totally destroyed, and there was some sort of damage in about one-fourth of the state.

At Allstate, spokesman Bill Mellander said the company still did not have a handle on the damage due. "The widespread nature of the event, combined with the rural areas involved, is having an effect on our ability to grasp the severity," he said.

State Farm reported that its MidAmerica zone, encompassing Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, had so far noted 700 home claims and 500 auto claims.

The severest damage, said spokeswoman Ana Compane-Romero, was in the Van Wert and Clinton areas of Ohio.

In Tennessee, where 17 people were reported to have died, Cecil Whaley, the director of natural hazards for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said that damage assessment teams were only just being organized.

Mr. Whaley said that the area to be assessed involved "25 counties from the Mississippi River to the Great Smokey Mountains--a space of about 400 miles." He added that "it appears we have multi-millions of dollars in damage."

He said that most of the damage was in rural areas, adding it was likely to involve 80 percent damage to home structures, with the rest being commercial.