Two powerful storm systems that pummeled Dallas-Fort Worth last spring accounted for $1.66 billion of the $2.3 billion in insured losses recorded in Texas in 2012, according to the Insurance Council of Texas.
An outbreak of 20 tornadoes swirled across North Texas on April 3, damaging hundreds of homes and businesses and causing $775 million in losses.The storms started in Johnson County and stretched north to Paris and east to Tyler, with the worst damage inflicted by an EF-3 tornado in Forney and two EF-2 twisters in Arlington and Lancaster, where powerful winds tossed tractor-trailers into the sky."These were pretty strong tornadoes. They hit a pretty populated area. It was fortunate that they hit in the afternoon when a lot of people weren't home," said Jason Dunn, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Fort Worth office.The state's most costly weather event of 2012 was the June 13 hailstorm that caused $890 million in insured losses in Dallas. Two strong thunderstorms swept through the city, dropping baseball-sized hail that smashed windshields and punched holes in roofs."You just need a couple of storms like the ones in April and June that go through a heavily populated areas and you have horrific numbers really quick," said Mark Hanna of the insurance council, a trade association of insurers.The third costliest storm in Texas last year occurred on March 29 in McAllen, where estimated insured losses from wind and hail damage totaled $260 million. All told, Texas recorded seven catastrophic weather events, with all of them occurring in the severe storm season between mid-March and mid-June, Hanna said.The ongoing drought across Texas helped limit 2012 damages, Hanna said."It's just an average number. When you have the entire state in a drought, you have fewer thunderstorms. That's what creates our problems of hail and high winds," he said.ISO Services, which compiled the data, reported 26 weather catastrophes striking the country last year. ISO defines a catastrophe as an event that causes $25 million or more in damages and affects a significant number of people.The insured losses from Hurricane Sandy are estimated to be $11 billion of the country's $27 billion in catastrophic losses in 2012.Texas led all other states in damages. Hanna noted that the Lone Star State hasn't been hit by a major hurricane since 2008, when Hurricane Ike made landfall just east of Galveston, causing an estimated $12 billion in damages, a record for the state.ISO's estimated losses include storm damage to homes, cars and businesses, but exclude flood damage that would be provided by coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program.Steve Campbell, 817-390-7981Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
