NEW YORK (AP) — Major insurance companies were among the hardest hit stocks as the broader markets fell Tuesday, after a report indicated that the killer tornadoes and severe storms that ravaged the U.S. may cause up to $2 billion in insured losses.

An estimated 30 tornadoes with winds of more than 110 mph ripped through the Midwest and South on Friday, killing at least 40 people. Snow followed in several of the hardest hit states, adding difficulty to the recovery efforts.

All told, more than 150 tornadoes touched down, mainly in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama, since Feb. 28, in what the Monday report by the risk modeling firm Eqecat Inc. called, "An unusually strong extra-tropical cyclone spawning a months-worth of tornadoes in two days."

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.