Nearly 40% of Residents Admit Being Scared by Texas Weather

Thirty-seven percent of Texans say Lone Star State spring storms scare them, and more than a third say they feel the weather is getting worse year after year, according to a new survey by Allstate Insurance Company.

The number of Texas hail and wind related homeowner insurance claims increased 5 percent and lightning related claims increased 52 percent for Allstate Insurance customers last year.

“Spring storms in Texas are unpredictable,” said Diana Wickman, an Allstate agent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “While they may seem more prevalent in some areas, it still can cause severe damage anytime, anywhere, so people need to be careful and take them seriously.”

Among Texans who said spring storms in the state have scared them, more than half (54 percent) said tornadoes concerned them the most, followed by wind (18 percent) and hail (15 percent.)

Hail and wind impacted more Allstate insured homes in the McAllen area, followed by the Dallas-Fort Worth area, than in any other parts of the state last year. Allstate tallied the top 10 stormiest counties in Texas by looking at the areas with the highest frequencies of wind and hail related homeowner property damage*.

About the Survey

The survey of Texas residents was conducted March 3 through March 14, 2013 among a sample of 3,200 adults, age 20 to 69, reached via telephone. The margin of error for the sample is +/- 3 percent. Market areas included in the survey were Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and El Paso.

The survey was conducted by Reality Based Group, an Austin, Texas based customer experience management and market research company.

*About the Storm Data

To collect the data, Allstate measured the frequency of hail, wind and lightning homeowner property claims from January through December 2011 and January through December 2012 in 45 Texas counties which all had at least 4,000 Allstate policies.

Source: Allstate