The Insurance Services Office, Inc. stated that January was the third costliest on record with catastrophe claims totalling an estimated $1.75 billion from four events in the US.

This January's catastrophe losses already exceed by $750 million total catastrophe losses for the first quarter of 1998. Nearly 800,000 claims resulted from severe weather and winter storms in the eastern half of the US, including an outbreak of tornadoes in Arkansas.

Losses in Arkansas totalled an estimated $250 million. Two winter storms caused about $1.2 billion of insured damage in 29 states in the first two weeks of January. Two other storms in the last two weeks caused another $500 million of insured damage from Texas to Georgia.

Catastrophe losses for January were exceeded by January losses in 1994 when the Northridge earthquake hit California for $12.5 billion in insured damage.

Four other events that month pushed catastrophe losses to a total of $13.7 billion. January 1996 holds second place with $1.9 billion in insured property damage from five storms and tornado outbreaks.

The Insurance Services Office defines a catastrophe as an event that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses in the US.