Preliminary Estimates Have Hurricane Ike Costing Insurers Up to $18B
Hurricane Ike, which crashed into Galveston, Texas, early Saturday, may cost insurers in insured losses for onshore damages up to $18 billion according to preliminary estimates.
Ike made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of up to 110 mph, causing widespread flooding and wind damage and shut down power for many in the Galveston and Houston areas.
According to catastrophe modeling firm EQECAT Inc. in Oakland, Calif., onshore property damage and business interruption losses will range between $8 billion and $18 billion.
Bermuda-based reinsurer Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Ltd. said that, according to its models, onshore losses to the insurance industry will be in the range of $10 billion to $16 billion.
The storm, which weakened to a Category 1 hurricane soon after making landfall, was the worst to hit the region for several years.
Published on September 15, 2008
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