Hurricane Zeta Insured Loss Estimates Range from $1.5B to More than $4B

Insured losses from Hurricane Zeta — the fifth named storm to make landfall in Louisiana and the third hurricane to hit the state in the span of two months — will likely come in somewhere between $1.5 billion and $4.4 billion, according to three catastrophe modeling firms.

Karen Clark & Co. (KCC) has estimated that the insured loss to onshore properties from Hurricane Zeta will be close to $4.4 billion, which includes $4.3 billion wind and storm surge losses in the US and $80 million wind losses in Mexico. KCC’s flash estimate includes privately insured wind and storm surge damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties and automobiles. It does not include National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) losses or losses to offshore assets.

According to Irvine, Calif.-based CoreLogic, combined residential and commercial wind and storm surge insured losses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama from Zeta could rise to between $2.5 billion to $4 billion. CoreLogic’s analysis includes residential homes and commercial properties, including contents and business interruption and does not include broader economic loss from the storm.

AIR Worldwide has pegged industry insured losses to onshore property resulting from Hurricane Zeta’s winds and storm surge in the $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion range. Included in AIR’s estimates are losses to onshore residential, commercial, and industrial properties and automobiles for their building, contents, and time element coverage.

Hurricane Zeta made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana, in Terrebonne Parish as a strong Category 2 storm with a maximum sustained surface wind speed of 110 miles per hour before directly hitting New Orleans in the evening of October 28, CoreLogic said.

Zeta was the 27th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. It made landfall in Louisiana three weeks after Hurricane Delta and about nine weeks after Hurricane Laura hit the state. While Laura and Delta made landfall just 12 miles apart, Zeta made landfall about 150 miles east of their landfall locations and west of where Sally made landfall on September 16.

Source: Air Worldwide, CoreLogic, Karen Clark & Co. (KCC)

Related:

• Hurricane Zeta Slams Louisiana With High Winds, Storm Surge
• Catastrophe Risk Experts Estimate Up to $3B in U.S. Insured Losses from Delta
• Update: Hurricane Laura Kills 6 in Louisiana, but Damage Is Less than Expected