US snow storms to cost $2bn

Catastrophe modelling company Eqecat says winter storms that struck the eastern US will cost insurers more than $2bn in roof collapses and broken pipes, Bloomberg reports.

The losses will be concentrated in the corridor from northern Virginia to the New York metropolitan area.

“The storm hit at the core of a huge population density,” said David Smith, senior vice president at Oakland, California- based Eqecat. “That means there are more buildings to have their roofs collapsed. There are more people and more businesses, so it causes more impact.”