Early reports from the Dallas Morning News indicate that State Farm has received more than 3,500 home and auto claims as of this morning, less than 48 hours since a series of tornadoes that tore through Granbury, Texas, and the surrounding area, causing at least six deaths and injuring more than 100 more.
In addition to State Farm, Allstate and Farmers Insurance have also issued mobile claims units to the affected areas, which reside to the south and southwest of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. According to one report, Allstate covers more than 68,000 homeowner policies in the counties affected.
“Insurance adjusters will be trying to reach policyholders and providing them with additional living expense checks if their homes have been destroyed or unlivable,” said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, in a statement. “This will be a massive response because we’re talking a very large area of destruction.”
As many as 13 tornadoes are being cited in damage assessments of the area, and hail ranging in size from one to four inches in diameter was reported. One of the tornadoes was reportedly a mile-wide EF-4, with winds reaching speeds of 200 miles per hour.
While no damage estimates are being given yet, history provides some examples: According to the Insurance Council of Texas, last year, a hailstorm occurring on June 13 incited damages of $900 million. The costliest hailstorm in Texas history cost $1.1 billion in damages and struck Fort Worth in May 1995.
