INSURANCE INDUSTRY TAKES ANOTHER HIT

The tornado that hit Oklahoma last Saturday will add to the list of claims against the beleaguered United States insurance industry.

Insurers are already staggering after a string of natural disasters. The A. M. Best Company estimated that the mid-March blizzard that struck the East Coast will cost insurers $1.5 billion.

Costs from the March storm exceeded previous estimates. Insurers will also pay $510 million for World Trade Center bombing damages. Hail and wind storms in Texas and Kansas last month caused $125 million and $35 million in damages.