Tornadoes that slammed five states in the U.S. Midwest and Southlast week may generate as much as $2 billion in claims costs forinsurers, risk-modeling firm Eqecat Inc. said.

Tornadoes have killed 49 people in the U.S. this year, accordingto a statement issued yesterday by Oakland, California-basedEqecat. The tornadoes will probably bring claims of $1 billion to$2 billion, the firm said.

More than 150 tornadoes touched down from Feb. 28 through March3, most of them in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois andAlabama, Eqecat said. The U.S. has experienced 272 tornadoes thisyear through March 4, more than twice the seven-year average forthe period, according to the statement.

“With basically a month's worth of tornadoes last week, thatdoesn't necessarily say that the rest of the year will be as bad asit has been so far,” said Jose Miranda, Eqecat's director of clientadvocacy. Referring to conditions that increase the likelihood oftornadoes, he said, “You have to have all the ingredients cometogether.”

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the biggest U.S.home and car insurer, is among the top two providers of homeowners'coverage by market share in Alabama, Kentucky and Indiana,according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The insurer received about3,600 claims from the tornadoes for that line as of March 3, HollyAnderson, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

“These are early numbers and we expect to know more early thisweek as our customers assess damage,” said Anderson.

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