Aon estimates that a recent wave of severe storms across the US and Europe has resulted in insured losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, according to its latest catastrophe report.
The storms, which struck as the calendar turned to June, brought widespread damage on both continents. In the United States, severe weather systems between May 29 and June 4 swept through major metropolitan areas, with particularly heavy impacts from wind, hail, and flooding.
The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in Texas endured substantial hail and wind damage, while flooding inundated parts of Wichita, Kansas. The storm systems also extended to the East Coast, impacting states along their path. State Farm spokesperson Michal Brower said the insurer received nearly 5,500 claims in Texas from June 1 to June 4. Additional claims were filed in Illinois (280), Missouri (175), and Kansas (170), reflecting the wide reach of the storms.
Other affected states included Iowa and Missouri, which have both faced repeated bouts of severe convective weather this year. Notably, a powerful EF3 tornado on May 22 tracked nearly 23 miles through northern St. Louis into Illinois, contributing to estimated insured losses of $4 billion to $7 billion from associated storm outbreaks, according to Gallagher Re chief science officer Steve Bowen.
Aon reported that further convective storm activity in late May and early June added billions more in insured damages. Straight-line winds early in June brought down trees and power lines, while a tornado overturned vehicles on two interstates in the Kansas City area.
In Europe, storms between May 31 and June 4 struck a broad swath of the continent. Aon said the early part of the period saw damage concentrated in Western Europe, before the weather system moved into Central Europe. Large hail, gusty winds, and heavy rainfall were common, with hailstones larger than 2 inches reported in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Hungary. In Puy-de-Dôme, France, hailstones reached up to 3.9 inches in diameter.
A tornado also damaged homes in France, and other structures and crops across Austria and Czechia were affected as the storms progressed eastward. Aon noted that insurers in France may face “significant payouts” from the hailstorms in the Puy-de-Dôme region.
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