KCC: Extended June wind, hail event caused $5.5B in damage
The state of Texas saw the most damage from the storm system, followed by Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.
A prolonged severe convective storm system that lasted from June 10 to June 19 resulted in more than 1,000 reports of hail and damaging winds across 25 different states as it passed over the central and southern U.S., according to a report from Karen Clark & Company (KCC). Overall, KCC estimates the insured losses from this outbreak will total close to $5.5 billion.
These were not insignificant hailstorms, either. According to KCC, there were dozens of reports of softball-sized hail across Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia. The largest hailstone recorded from this system fell on June 13 in Wheeler County, Texas, and measured 5.5 inches in diameter.
There were 93 reports of tornadoes linked to the storm, as well, with two confirmed EF-3 tornadoes causing damage to homes and businesses in Perryton, Texas and Louin, Mississippi.
At one point during the system, the Weather Channel reported 240,000 homes and businesses from Texas to Florida were without power.
Other notable impacts of this storm system included:
- In addition to the 5.5-inch hailstone measured in Texas, near-record-breaking hailstones also fell in Mississippi (4.75 inches) and Arkansas (4.88 inches).
- Over 40 hurricane-force wind gusts were reported across the South.
- The area near Tusla experienced a recorded wind gust of 100 mph when, the KCC report explains, “Supercell thunderstorms organized into a mesoscale convective system and tracked across the state of Oklahoma.”
- Of the 1,557 hail reports attributed to the storm, over 18% were considered severe with hailstones over 2 inches in diameter.
The state of Texas saw the most damage from the storm system, followed by Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.