EQECAT: Joplin Tornado Losses Could Reach $3 Billion

The tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, could cost insurers between $1 billion to $3 billion, according to catastrophe risk modeling firm EQECAT.

Published on May 24, 2011

The tornado, the deadliest single tornado in the United States since 1947, killed at least 116 people in Joplin earlier this week.

Reports said the twister left a path of destruction roughly 6 miles long and one-half mile wide.

Preliminary reports suggest that up to one-quarter of the building stock in Joplin may have been destroyed, EQECAT said in a statement.