Insurance Services Office in Jersey City said the ice storm thatslammed into the Midwest on Monday has been rated an insurancecatastrophe.

Gary Kerney, ISO assistant vice president, Property ClaimServices, said”PCS declared a catastrophe for damage from ice andfreezing. The definition pertains to the insured property damage inthe Midwest including Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowaand Illinois.”

ISO rates as catastrophes events which inflict an insured lossof $25 million.

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry yesterday declared a statewide state ofemergency, and more than one million persons in the affected stateswere said to have been without power after the storm hit.

Insurers in reaction were gearing up to deal with an expectedavalanche of claims.

Safeco said its claims team members have mobilized in theaffected areas and are surveying damages in order to expedite theclaims process.

Robert Johnston, Safeco's National Catastrophe Team Leader,said: “There's a wide range of damage spread across severalcommunities. Our goal is to provide immediate support andassistance to our customers when and where they need it.”

Mr. Kerney at PCS noted that “power outages are still widespreadthrough the region, and we expect claims reporting to pick up inthe days ahead.”

After the storms hit a half-inch to an inch of ice covered muchof central and northeast Kansas, with one-quarter to one-half inchacross much of the southern half of the state and one-tenth of aninch to a half-inch across northwest Kansas, according to theNational Weather Service.