With one devastating tornado wreaking havoc after another and with death tolls mounting, 2011 is projected to be the most costly and deadliest tornado season ever.
The death toll from the tornado that flattened Joplin, Missouri on Sunday has now risen to 127 bringing the 2011 total to 450 deaths with hundreds more still missing in and around Joplin, Missouri. As insurance adjusters continue their assessments, the National Weather Service says that makes it the single deadliest tornado in the U.S. since 1953. Calculating the financial impact could take weeks. But this year's tornado season is already on track to be the most expensive on record.
Search and rescue crews were still finding survivors, two days later and with more than 450 deaths from multiple tornadoes so far this year, 2011 is already the second deadliest on record. The insurance industry says it's also on track to be the most expensive.
Calculating the financial cost will take weeks, but Michael Barry at the Insurance Information Institute says measuring the impact on lives will be more difficult. The risk modeling agency RMS says insured costs for April tornados alone could reach $6 billion, compared to $9.5 billion for all of last year.
Despite extensive damage to nearly one third of the city, insurance information spokesman Michael Barry believes Joplin will be able to rebuild, much like other tornado damaged cities have in the past. "Greensburg, Kansas, a couple of years ago was literally wiped off the map due to a tornado. It did not have the loss of life that we saw today in Joplin, Missouri, but nonetheless, Greensburg, three to four years out, was completely rebuilt. And so there is hope on what is otherwise a very dark day in Joplin," he said.
So far tornados have struck with ferocious force in North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri (St. Louis and Joplin) twice and the tornado season is barely underway. I’m sure I missed a few states in that list but its hard to keep up with near daily occurrences of these devastating events.
In addition, a tornado near La Crosse, Wisconsin caused $15 million in damage Sunday. Luckily there were no fatalities in that instance. Even the “small” tornados have devastating results in 2011. That term, “small tornado” is an oxymoron but 2011 defies explanation or word-appropriateness. I’m not sure how insurance adjusters and insurers can possibly keep up and provide all their clients with the recovery services they so desperately need.
