US$26b hurricane damage
published: Tuesday | August 30, 2005

NEW YORK (AP):

THE PROPERTY and casualty insurance industry, hit hard last year when four separate hurricanes slammed into Florida, now faces as much as US$26 billion in claims from Hurricane Katrina's foray into Louisiana and neighbouring Gulf Coast states, according to preliminary risk assessments.

AIR Worldwide Corp., a risk modelling firm based in Boston, said late yesterday that insured losses could range from US$12 billion to US$26 billion.

At the high end, that would make Katrina more expensive than the previous record-setting storm, Hurricane Andrew, which caused some US$21 billion in insured losses in 1992 to property in Florida and along the Gulf Coast.