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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 72 J O U R N A L May 2023 CORELOGIC ESTIMATES $83B-PLUS IN TORNADO DAMAGE ACROSS CENTRAL U.S. A band of severe thunderstorms and hail that crossed the central United States on March 31 caused property damage to an estimated 358,000 homes, resulting in approximately $83.2 billion in overall damage. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Storm Prediction Center (SPC) Filtered Storm Report for March 31, the severe thunderstorm system was responsible for more than 500 reports of tornadoes, large hail, and high winds from Texas to Ohio. The severe thunderstorms were responsible for extensive property damage across the impacted states, most notably torna- do damage in Little Rock, Arkansas. CoreLogic's Weather Verification Services (WVS) and Reactor Platform captured torna- do paths and hail swaths across the United States on March 31. More than 358,000 single-family (SFR) and multifamily (MFR) homes may have sustained damage due to the combined effects of tornadoes and hail. CoreLogic estimates that approximate- ly 75,000 SFR and MFR properties with a combined reconstruction value (RCV) of $22 billion were potentially within the tornado paths across the country. CoreLogic notes that probability values do not indicate the severity of the damage. Instead, they reflect the likelihood that a property was within the tornado's path. Market Trends In terms of the March 31 hail damage, CoreLogic estimates that approximately 280,000 SRFs and MRFs with a combined RCV of $61.2 billion were potentially impact- ed by hailstones with diameters greater than one inch. CoreLogic notes that not all properties within the tornado footprints or hail swaths sustained damage and the degree of the damage to structures may vary. A damaged structure may not have incurred a total loss equal to the full RCV. The number of dam- aged properties will be a subset of the total number of homes within tornado paths and hail swaths. The strong storm system that developed on March 31 pulled unseasonably warm and moist conditions from the Gulf of Mexico across the central United States. The com- bination of moisture and a favorable wind profile created a volatile environment in which tornadoes could easily develop. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), two separate supercell systems spawned tornadoes in Arkansas—the first was an EF-3 tornado that extended nearly 32 miles east from West Little Rock, Arkansas, in Pulaski County to Cabot, Arkansas, in Lonoke County. The NWS estimated 165 mph peak wind speeds near Little Rock. Further east, a separate supercell spawned another tornado of at least EF-3 strength that destroyed additional homes in Wynn, Arkansas, and uprooted trees near Parkin and Earl, Arkansas. The NWS reported in Iowa, several tor- nadoes caused damage to properties across the state, with intensities ranging from EF-0 to EF-4, with estimated wind speeds ranging from 74 miles per hour to 170 miles per hour. In order to assist those stricken by these storms, HUD has announced the implemen- tation of federal disaster relief for the state of Arkansas to assist state, and local recovery efforts for areas affected by severe storms and tornadoes on March 31, 2023. On April 2, 2023, President Biden issued a major disaster dec- laration for the Arkansas counties of Cross, Lonoke, and Pulaski. "HUD is committed to assisting people in Arkansas rebuild after these devastating storms," HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said. This announcement builds on unprece- dented aid from the Biden-Harris administra- tion to help our state and local partners get access to the resources they need to restore their communities."