Aon: June’s Severe Weather Losses Near $2B in U.S.

Severe weather insurance losses in the United States were close to $2 billion in June, according to Aon Benfield’s Global Catastrophe Report.

The report, published by Aon’s Impact Forecasting, noted that the most costly was the severe weather event that spawned up to baseball-sized hail in parts of Texas and New Mexico.

According to the Insurance Council of Texas, insured losses in the state will exceed $1 billion, with more than 100,000 claims filed by the end of June. A separate hail storm in Colorado and Wyoming caused more than $700 million in insured losses.

And a series of severe weather events in the central and eastern U.S. killed at least 28 people. The storms were especially deadly due to a violent derecho – a fast-moving cluster of intense thunderstorms – that claimed at least 15 lives, caused blackouts, and resulted in more than 50,000 insurance claims.

Furthermore, Colorado’s two major wildfires caused extensive damages. The Waldo Canyon Fire in the Colorado Springs region became the most damaging blaze in state history, killing at least two people, destroying 347 homes (with a combined housing market value of $110.2 million) and damaging at least 50 others. Meanwhile, the High Park Fire outside of Fort Collins destroyed 259 homes and killed one person.

Steve Jakubowski, president of Impact Forecasting, said that the Colorado wildfires “proved to be the two most damaging fires in state history.”

Also in the U.S., Tropical Storm Debby brought days of torrential rain and flooding to Florida. The weather system flooded more than 7,500 homes and businesses across the state.