Severe Storm Risk: A New Baseline for Property Owners

In 2025, we examined the growing impact of severe convective storms (SCSs) on businesses and property owners. Since then, the risk landscape has continued to evolve, making it clear that what was once considered an emerging trend is now a baseline operating reality. This update reflects how organizations should approach that risk today.

Severe convective storms (SCSs) – including thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes and straight-line winds – are now a persistent operating risk for businesses across the U.S.

In 2025, SCS-related insured losses reached $51 billion, marking the third consecutive year exceeding $50 billion. Total economic damages surpassed $68 billion, making it one of the costliest years on record for this peril, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

This sustained level of impact signals a fundamental shift: severe weather is no longer something businesses prepare for periodically; it is something they must continuously manage.

While these storms often strike with little-to-no warning and can cause immediate structural damage, flooding and loss of life, the broader exposure extends well beyond the physical footprint of a building. Many of the most consequential risks remain less visible but are equally disruptive.

Understanding the Drivers Behind Rising Storm Losses
Severe storms are now occurring year-round, with shifting weather patterns expanding their geographic reach and beginning earlier in the year – effectively lengthening the annual risk window and increasing the duration of exposure for businesses and property owners. Areas historically accustomed to tornado activity remain vulnerable, but storm activity is increasingly concentrated further East, exposing new regions to heightened risk. At the same time, continued urban expansion is amplifying losses, as more assets concentrate in storm-prone areas.

    “The potential for exposure seems to be getting worse. We’re not talking about a distant 
    future – this is the near-term outlook. By the 2040-2059 timeframe, projections show a 
    roughly 10% to 25% increase in the frequency of supercell storms across the central and 
    southeastern United States, which are responsible for the majority of the most severe 
    and costly weather events.” 

- Dr. John Allen, Professor of Meteorology, Department of 
    Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Central Michigan University

However, weather alone does not explain the scale of losses.

Non-weather factors, including population migration into higher-risk regions, rising construction and labor costs, and broader legal and economic pressures, are now responsible for the majority of insured loss growth. These dynamics are compounding the financial impact of each event and increasing overall loss severity.

Event Severity Is Intensifying and so Is the Impact
The severity of individual events is also intensifying. In March 2025, a single month produced a record 300 tornadoes and $8.4 billion in insured losses. Just months later, an EF5 tornado struck North Dakota, the first of its kind in more than a decade, underscoring the unpredictability and magnitude of today’s storm activity.

For property owners and insurers alike, this reinforces the need to rethink how assets are evaluated and maintained. For example, aging infrastructure, such as roofs nearing the end of their lifecycle, can significantly increase loss severity. In many cases, damage claims effectively accelerate replacement timelines/costs that could have been managed more proactively.

This is especially relevant given that hail accounts for up to 80% of SCS-related claims, with roofs absorbing a substantial portion of insured losses.

    “Emerging research shows that while smaller hail may become less frequent, the largest 
    and most damaging hailstones are expected to increase significantly, by as much as 
    15% to 75%.” 

- Dr. Victor Gensini, Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on 
    Convective Storms

Closing the Gap Between Risk and Coverage
Despite the growing frequency and severity of these events, many businesses remain underprepared from a coverage standpoint.

Standard property policies may exclude or limit certain storm-related exposures, leaving organizations vulnerable to unexpected out-of-pocket costs. In other cases, coverage limits may not fully reflect today’s elevated replacement and repair cost environment.

Regularly reviewing policies for gaps – particularly around exclusions, limits and underinsurance – is critical. More tailored solutions, such as excess coverage, blanket insurance and extended replacement cost endorsements, can help address exposures that may otherwise go unnoticed, including surface flooding.

Preparedness Must Become an Ongoing Discipline
Preparedness can no longer be treated as a one-time exercise. It must be integrated into day-to-day operations and long-term planning.

Working with insurance providers, organizations should continuously evaluate both their physical assets and their coverage strategies. This includes considering specialized protections such as wind and hail coverage, flood insurance and tailored coverage structures that align more closely with today’s evolving risk exposures.

At the same time, a comprehensive risk management approach – encompassing emergency response, crisis management and business continuity planning – is essential to maintaining resilience when disruptions occur.

Operating in a New Risk Reality
SCS are no longer outlier risks – they are a structural feature of today’s business environment.

Organizations that recognize this shift and adapt, by strengthening assets, closing coverage gaps and embedding resilience into operations, will be better positioned to protect not only their property, but also their people, performance and long-term viability.

To learn how CNA’s wide-ranging insurance solutions can help businesses mitigate risk exposures, visit our Commercial Property Insurance page.