Deadly storms hit Midwest again in new round of spring tornadoes

Another round of deadly storms hit the Midwest Sunday, April 2, causing deaths, massive damage and power outages in eight states. The states affected were Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

The new round of tornadoes hit the Midwest less than one month after a similar grouping of twisters, high winds and damage hit a five-state area on March 12. Insurance agents, companies and claims adjusters, still in the midst of handling the remaining claims from the March windstorms, now face rising numbers of claims.

Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate Insurance Company said that it had deployed catastrophe teams to go to the hardest hit areas in Illinois and Missouri. As of a few days after the April 2 event, Allstate said it had already recorded 3,258 claims.

“Allstate’s goal in situations like this is to mobilize our catastrophe teams quickly to help Allstate policyholders as soon as possible,” said Michael Trevino, spokesperson for Allstate.

State Farm said that it had declared six states in the region as catastrophe areas. The states were Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee.

State Farm corporate spokesperson Dick Luedke said that 12,341 claims for property had been reported already with an additional 4,624 claims for vehicle damage. The Bloomington, Ill.-based company said that it too had mobilized its catastrophe teams to help policyholders as they began the process of digging out and filing claims.

Meteorologist said the storms developed after a cold front approaching from the West slammed into a mass of warm, humid air. Early reports indicated a swarm of 63 or 64 tornadoes touched down on April 2 and 3.

Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher compared the (storm) destruction to “Sherman’s march” through the South during the Civil War, according to an Associated Press report.

The AP report also said tens of thousands of Illinoisans were without power on Monday, a day after storms packing high winds raked much of the state, killed one man when part of a roof collapsed. About 43,000 homes and businesses in central and southern Illinois had no power Monday, with additional outages in neighboring Missouri affecting about 60,000 customers.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich activated the State Emergency Operations Center in Springfield. Represen-tatives of more than a dozen state agencies assembled in the center, and were contacting local emergency officials to determine if they need state assistance.

High winds also knocked out power in Chicago’s suburbs to about 6,100 customers of Commonwealth Edison, but power had been restored to about half of them by 3 a.m. Monday, the utility said. Many Chicago suburbs reported large hailstones, some of them causing ex-tensive property damage.

Southeast hit
Kentucky and Tennessee were hit by the storms as they continued on their path eastward. The cleanup is still underway in the aftermath of a large F-3 to F-4 tornado that tore a swath of death and destruction through northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky, leaving 18 people dead and hundreds injured.

The Salvation Army reported serving about 800 meals a day to tornado victims in rural counties days after the storm hit.

Large carriers reported receiving thousands of claims and although final statistics were not yet tallied, carriers and independent agents, estimated from 8,000 to 10,000 claims would be filed for homes and auto damages. Initial statistics indicated that 60 percent of the claims were for homes and 40 percent autos. The tornado blew down homes and tore off roofs along its path.

The tornado tore through Dyers County, 70 miles northeast of Nashville, next to Fort Campbell, Ky., and followed the river, skipping across Christian County and scoring a direct hit on Hopkinsville, Ky.

Independent agents in northern Tennessee and southern Kentucky told Insurance Journal they had a variety of claims and were being deluged with calls about damage to their autos and property. The tornado brought with it large chunks of hail, which smashed auto windows and dented the vehicles.

Independent insurance agents in Tennessee reported fewer claims, but said 18 to 20 deaths had been reported. Kentucky agents, however, said that while no deaths had oc-curred, they were being deluged with claims.

In Atlanta, Ga., storms swept through the area causing “tornado-like” damage to homes and businesses in densely-populated suburbs, state officials said.

Authorities said the storms damaged homes and businesses in Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Hall counties. No injuries were reported.

“The damage I’ve seen definitely looks like a tornado,” Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said. “We’ve had a lot of damage. Several businesses are totally destroyed. Trees literally are sitting inside of houses.”

In Roswell, a car wash was destroyed and windows in other nearby businesses were broken. Across the street, a longtime convenience store and gas station also sustained damage.

Oxendine said Georgia officials are waiting to determine whether the National Weather Service rules the Georgia damage was caused by tornadoes.

About 36,000 customers lost electricity in the metro Atlanta area. Another 8,000 in northwest Georgia had no power, Georgia Power spokesman Tal Wright said.

In Tennessee, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes tore off roofs, overturned cars and left 11 people dead. The storm there was the second wave of violent weather to hit the state in less than a week.

The Associated Press and David Kaiser, Insurance Journal’s southeast managing editor, contributed to this news story.