Deadly U.S. tornadoes to cost insurers about $3 bln - KCC

Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Company (KCC) said on Tuesday it expects insured losses of about $3 billion from the swarm of tornadoes and severe convective storms that caused destruction in parts of the United States this month.

The estimates for storms between Dec. 9 to Dec. 12 include the swarm of tornadoes that tore a 200-mile path through the six states in the U.S. Midwest and South, demolishing homes, leveling businesses and setting off a scramble to find survivors beneath the rubble.

The barrage of tornadoes killed at least 74 people in Kentucky, officials said on Monday.

The powerful twisters, which weather forecasters say are unusual in cooler months, also destroyed a candle factory and the fire and police stations in a small town in Kentucky, ripped through a nursing home in neighboring Missouri, and killed at least six workers at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.

KCC's estimates includes the privately insured damage to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and automobiles.