Kansas Storm Claims Totaled $442 Million in 2023

Kansas storm claims totaled nearly half a billion dollars in 2023.

According to numbers shared by the state’s department of insurance, 147,710 claims totaling $442.8 million were paid last year. The Kansas Department of Insurance collected this data from all companies that write property and casualty insurance in Kansas.

Hail, wind, water damage and other weather-related claim losses for homeowner and automobile policies are included in the numbers. Johnson County, the most populous county in Kansas, experienced the highest storm loss total at approximately $69.3 million.

In the central part of the state, losses in Barton County totaled about $63.2 million. Sedgwick County, home to Wichita, experienced the state’s third-highest loss total at roughly $34.1 million.

A Kansas State University Climate report shared that while 2023 was a quiet year for tornadoes, the three-month period from May through July was the fourth wettest on record in Southwest Kansas, and a returning El Niño weather pattern led to the second warmest and ninth-wettest December on record statewide. A Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm brought accumulating snow to most of the Sunflower State — and more than a foot of snow in some areas.

Related: 650,000 Residential Properties Hit by Severe Hail in Central US Storms

In March 2024, a storm carrying hail with descriptions ranging from the size of golf balls to softballs hit parts of Kansas. According to Jon Schneyer, CoreLogic’s director of catastrophe response, the storm system’s hail impacts in Kansas and Missouri “were worse than any single day in 2023.”

A total of 57 preliminary tornado reports were filed across the state from the beginning of 2024 to May 13. Nationally, approximately 700 preliminary reports had been filed at that time, above the historical average for that time of year, per the AccuWeather Global Weather Center.