Oklahoma residents are no strangers to a few storms – in fact, it’s what makes us so resilient. But even with our thick skin, this year has still been a rough one for weather. As extreme weather activity continues to increase across the state, so does the risk to property owners.
According to the National Weather Service, tornadoes in Oklahoma have already reached an above-average rate for 2017, with two months left of the year. Eighty-one tornadoes have swept through the Sooner State, nine of which happened in the off-season. Of those nine, five touched ground last month. Last year 57 tornadoes hit Oklahoma and they all occurred during the regular storm season.
There have been worse years – such as the tornado outbreak of 1999, when 145 tornadoes touched ground – but 2017 has still been significant.
The five-year average for the annual number of tornadoes in Oklahoma is 66. It is worth noting that in this time period, there are two strange years. In 2014, there were only 16 tornadoes, the lowest number in any year from 1950 to present day. The following year in 2015, there were 111 tornadoes – the third-highest number in a given year for the same period.
Even with those two extreme years, trends are continuing to skew higher. The statistical possibility you may incur property damage and have to file a claim with your homeowner’s insurance increases every year with those trends. And unfortunately, many damage cases are mishandled or the damage caused by a storm is assessed to be pre-existing, leading to insurance disputes with the provider.