Hurricane Francine losses could reach $1.5 billion – CoreLogic
Hurricane Francine losses could reach $1.5 billion – CoreLogic | Insurance Business America
Catastrophe & Flood
Hurricane Francine losses could reach $1.5 billion – CoreLogic
Wind and storm surge drive estimated losses
Catastrophe & Flood
By
Kenneth Araullo
Estimated losses from Hurricane Francine could reach $1.5 billion, including insured wind and storm surge losses, according to data from CoreLogic.
The modeling firm’s estimate includes damage to buildings, contents, and business interruption across residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural properties. CoreLogic’s Hazard HQ Command Central noted that the estimate excludes precipitation-induced inland flooding and losses covered by the National Flood Insurance Program. Damage to offshore properties is also not included.
CoreLogic attributed the majority of the projected losses to wind damage affecting residential properties, which it identified as the primary driver of the figures. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported minor to moderate flooding along the coastline, stretching from central Louisiana to Mississippi.
The majority of the losses are expected to come from Louisiana, with Mississippi and Alabama contributing smaller portions.
CoreLogic said that the hardest-hit areas in Louisiana are the parishes of St. Mary, Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Ascension, with significant wind and storm surge damage.
According to the firm’s data, Hurricane Francine’s impact is expected to be manageable for primary insurers. Wind damage was limited due to the storm’s landfall in a sparsely populated coastal region and the resilience of buildings in the affected areas.
Francine made landfall on Sept. 11 in coastal Louisiana. Citing the National Hurricane Center, CoreLogic said the hurricane came ashore near Terrebonne Parish, approximately 30 miles south-southwest of Morgan City, as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. Weather stations near the landfall recorded peak gusts of 105 mph.
A report from Aon stated that total economic and insured losses from the hurricane may reach into the lower billions, with further increases possible due to rainfall from the remnants of the system, which could cause additional flooding across the southeastern US.
AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate for total damage and economic losses stands at approximately $9 billion.
Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, in a statement issued just before Francine made landfall, had forecasted potential insured losses of $1 billion or more. Gallagher Re also noted that a shift in the storm’s track closer to the New Orleans metro area could push the losses into the low billions.
CoreLogic also noted that Louisiana’s extensive coastline along the Gulf of Mexico has a history of severe hurricanes, and the state is still recovering from previous storms.
Hurricane Francine is the third hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this year and the first to hit Louisiana. Earlier in the season, Texas experienced landfall from Hurricane Beryl, followed by Hurricane Debby in Florida last month.
According to researchers from Colorado State University, this year’s Atlantic hurricane season has been unusually active, with a well-above-average number of storms as of mid-August.
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