Insured losses from flooding in Oklahoma and Texas “set to easily exceed” US$1 billion: Aon Benfield

A spate of thunderstorms and tornadoes in the United States in May cost the national economy about US$3 billion in economic losses, with overall insured losses set to easily exceed US$1 billion, despite low flood insurance penetration in parts of Oklahoma and Texas, said the latest Global Catastrophe Recap report from Impact Forecasting.

“Total aggregated severe thunderstorms and flood economic losses for May are expected to approach US$3 billion,” the report said. “Overall insured losses will easily exceed US$1 billion, though given low flood insurance penetration in parts of Oklahoma and Texas, the losses could have been even more robust.”

Released on Thursday, the May 2015 Global Catastrophe Recap report from Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, highlighted the powerful thunderstorms that caused major flooding across Texas and Oklahoma. The storms killed 41 people and damaged more than 5,000 homes in Texas alone, “resulting in what proved to be the wettest May on record for both states,” Impact Forecasting noted in a press release.

Related: Recovery teams look for 12 missing after weekend flooding in Texas sweeps away vacation home

Severe weather also prompted 412 preliminary reports of tornadoes by the U.S. Storm Prediction Center, “which which would equal the highest monthly number of U.S. tornadoes since April 2011 (758),” the release said. [click image below to enlarge]

“A meteorologically active month around the globe in May was highlighted by record rainfall from persistent thunderstorms across the U.S. states of Texas and Oklahoma,” said Steve Bowen, Impact Forecasting’s associate director and meteorologist. “The rains, which were 500% greater than normal values for the month of May in some locations, led to major riverine and flash flooding in areas that had long been mired in a multi-year drought.”

Related: Flash floods, tornadoes destroy homes, injure at least 12 in Oklahoma

Other major global events in May included the following:

• A major magnitude-7.3 earthquake near Mount Everest on May 12, which killed at least 131 people in Nepal, India, and China, bringing the death toll from the April 25 and May 12 earthquakes to nearly 9,000;

• Significant flooding in China that killed 81 people, damaged or destroyed nearly 100,000 homes and resulted in total combined economic losses estimated to be greater than US$3 billion;

• Flash floods in Australia that caused widespread damage to property and agricultural interests. The Insurance Council of Australia said on Tuesday that insurance losses from claims following floods in April and May have passed AUD$1.55 billion;

• An intense heatwave in India that impacted multiple states and killed at least 2,500 people – one of the highest death tolls from a heatwave recorded in recent history; and

• Super Typhoon Noul, which swept across the Philippines, Yap and Japan’s Okinawa, killing two people and causing Philippines losses of $US 366,000 and Okinawa crop losses of $US 23.2 million.