$50M in Insured Losses Expected From May Storm in Austin
Trees downed in May 14 storm damaged this house in central Austin.
Back-to-back storm systems that surprised Central Texas overnight May 14-15 with intense winds and heavy hail damage may result in more than $50 million in insurance claims, according to the Insurance Council of Texas.
The storms originated west of Austin. The first one blew across the northern reaches of the Austin suburbs around midnight with high winds and hail. Funnel clouds were also reported.
The second storm a couple of hours later took a more southern track, battering downtown and central city neighborhoods. Hail as large as 4 inches in diameter were reported in some areas. Windows in the dome of the state capitol building were blown out as were windows in the nearby state buildings. Trees, some more than 100-years-old, were downed all over the central parts of the city.
The next morning, insurance agents and insurance companies began responding to thousands of property damage claims, and tree trimming companies had all the work they could handle. The storms left some 40,000 Austin residents without power.
Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, the third largest homeowners insurer in the state, and its affiliate Foremost Insurance Company, by the afternoon of May 15 had received more than 1,800 claims. Insurance agents across the area also reported that claims were piling up.
The ICT said as many as 20,000 insurance claims are expected from the storm that uprooted trees, knocked out windows, damaged roofs and smashed cars in portions of west, north central and east Austin. Average homeowner claims are estimated at $3,500 while auto claims are estimated at $3,000.
Wind gusts as high as 65 mile per hour were recorded as well as hail stones the size of tennis balls.
The storm system continued across East Texas into Louisiana on May 15. Farmers reported that it had received more than 200 claims in Baton Rouge as a result of the storm.
April storms more costly
Insured losses from severe storms on April 17 that hammered areas west of Fort Worth, Texas, with softball size hail now exceed $200 million, the ICT reported. Insurance companies had received 33,000 homeowner claims and 21,000 automobile claims by mid-May.
Mineral Wells and Weatherford bore the brunt of the storm.
“Literally, every roof in Mineral Wells was heavily damaged,” said Capt. Mike McAllister of the Mineral Wells Police Department.
The hailstorm moved eastward into Weatherford and Parker County where several automobile dealerships were hit. Jerry’s Chevrolet in Hudson Oaks reported claims on 2,000 new and used vehicles.
A storm one week later produced tornadoes, straight-lines winds and hail over a 300-mile stretch from Lamesa in West Texas to Dallas. Lamesa and Crowley near Fort Worth were hardest hit.