Severe summer thunderstorms in Ohio will cause between $71.5 million and $84.8 million in insured losses, according to industry estimates.
The thunderstorms began on July 9 and spawned flooding and three tornadoes, which exacerbated damage to trees and power lines caused by excessive rain during the previous two weeks.
The National Weather Service (NWS) Cleveland reported that some areas of the state began to experience a two-week period of rain on June 26 that led to an accumulation of eight inches of water. Conditions continued until July 10, when three tornadoes were confirmed in Seneca, Huron, and Sandusky counties.
Property Claim Services (PCS) put loss estimates for the storm system, which primarily affected Ohio and Pennsylvania, at $84.8 million, while the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII) puts the losses at $71.5 million.
“Not all insurance companies are represented by OII's survey or PCS findings. Final losses will likely be closer to PCS' figures. This range is the industry's best guesstimate at this time,” said OII President Dan Kelso. The OII points out that industry estimates do not include uninsured property or flood losses, which may be covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
A P&C industry survey conducted by the OII showed 11,846 homeowners' claims filed in connection to the storms at a loss of about $59 million; 1,598 auto claims filed at a loss of about $4.6 million; and 2,824 business claims filed at a loss estimate of about $7.2 million. Insured losses reported by companies ranged from $35,000 to over $10.6 million.
According to OII, the July 10 event is the ninth major natural disaster to hit Ohio since 2011, including two winter storms in 2011 and seven wind-hail storms.
Insured storm-covered perils include property damage from hail, high winds and flying debris and vehicle coverage for hail, flooding or high winds. Food spoilage induced by power failure and basement water backup is usually excluded, but available through endorsements.
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