AIR Estimates Industry Insured Losses for Hurricane Maria in the Caribbean Will Be Between USD 40 Billion and USD 85 Billion
September 25 2017 - 3:23PM
YASTEST
For Immediate Release:
AIR Worldwide
Estimates Industry Insured Losses for Hurricane Maria in the
Caribbean Will Be Between USD 40 Billion and USD 85
Billion
BOSTON, Sept. 25, 2017 - Catastrophe modeling firm
AIR Worldwide estimates industry insured losses for Hurricane Maria
in the Caribbean will be between USD 40 Billion and USD 85 Billion.
Puerto Rico alone accounts for more than 85% of the loss. AIR
Worldwide is a Verisk (Nasdaq: VRSK) business.
Hurricane Maria was another major catastrophe for
the central Caribbean region, compounding the damage done by
Hurricane Irma just two weeks ago. It spared a few islands
devastated by Irma, but brought additional destruction to others,
and wrecked some locations that had escaped Irma's wrath.
Hurricane Maria slammed into Dominica on Tuesday,
September 19th as a
Category 5 storm, devastating the island and triggering widespread
flooding in adjacent Guadeloupe. It weakened briefly to a Category
4, then intensified again to Category 5 as it cut west-northwest
over the warm waters of the northeastern Caribbean Sea. The eyewall
brushed the western edge of St. Croix in the Virgin Islands on
Tuesday night, bringing storm surge and large waves to southern
shores.
Maria was downgraded slightly to Category 4 before
it made landfall on Puerto Rico near the town of Yabucoa at 6:15
a.m. ET, Wednesday, September 20th with maximum
sustained winds of 155 mph. This was Puerto Rico's first direct
landfall from a Category 4 tropical cyclone since the notorious San
Ciprian hurricane in 1932. Maria lost some organization as it
interacted with Puerto Rico's mountains but brought a storm surge
anticipated to be 6 to 9 feet in some areas and inundated the
country with 12 to 18 inches of rain, with higher amounts in some
locations. Maintaining its track, it then passed close offshore of
the northeast coast of Hispaniola delivering heavy precipitation,
Category 3 winds, and storm surge to the northern Dominican
Republic.
Islands in the Caribbean devastated by the storm,
and by Hurricane Irma two weeks earlier are in the early stages of
what will inevitably be a very lengthy recovery period. It is
abundantly clear that this has been a major catastrophe for the
region.
More than 3 million people in Puerto Rico, for example, remain
without electricity, drinking water, and
gas; other essentials are in short supply.
Communications are challenging, with 95% of cell phone towers
reportedly toppled. Many towns have been cut off by landslides,
floods, or torrents of muddy water; widespread
damage is reported.
As heavy precipitation continued, the dam on
the Guajataca River was significantly compromised and was deemed in
danger of an imminent break Friday afternoon. Some 70,000 people
downstream were advised to evacuate immediately. The dam is an
earthen structure built in 1929 to provide drinking water,
irrigation, and power generation. It has not failed, but remains in
danger of doing so.
Hurricane Maria is expected to continue moving
north for the next two days, slowing and weakening as it goes, and
staying well east of the southeast coast of the United States.
Maria will likely bring coastal flooding, high winds, and rain to parts of the North Carolina coast and
Virginia Tidewater through Wednesday. It is expected to have become
a tropical storm by Tuesday night, to turn toward the northeast by
Thursday, and to dissipate mid-ocean.
Note that AIR's estimates include "demand surge,"
which is the increase in the cost of labor and materials that is
often observed in the aftermath of major catastrophes. Demand surge
translates to an increase in the cost of rebuilding that ultimately
results in higher insured losses than would otherwise be the case.
Demand surge arises from shortages and potential constraints in the
movement of labor, and it can be exacerbated when multiple
disasters occur in a short timeframe, as is the case with
hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
AIR's modeled insured loss estimates also include
insured physical damage to onshore property (residential,
commercial, and industrial) and autos due to wind and
precipitation-induced flooding; insured loss to contents; losses
due to business interruption; losses to industrial facilities; and
additional living expenses (ALE) for residential claims.
AIR's estimates do not include losses to
infrastructure; losses from hazardous waste cleanup, vandalism, or
civil commotion whether directly or indirectly caused by the event;
losses to offshore properties, pleasure boats, and marine craft;
losses resulting from the compromise of existing defenses (e.g.,
levees); and losses to uninsured properties.
About AIR Worldwide
AIR Worldwide (AIR) provides risk modeling solutions that make
individuals, businesses, and society more resilient to extreme
events. In 1987, AIR Worldwide founded the catastrophe modeling
industry and today models the risk from natural catastrophes,
terrorism, pandemics, casualty catastrophes, and cyber attacks,
globally. Insurance, reinsurance, financial, corporate, and
government clients rely on AIR's advanced science, software, and
consulting services for catastrophe risk management,
insurance-linked securities, site-specific engineering analyses,
and agricultural risk management. AIR Worldwide, a Verisk
(Nasdaq:VRSK) business, is headquartered in Boston with additional
offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information,
please visit www.air-worldwide.com.
###
For more information, contact:
Kevin Long
AIR Worldwide
+1-617-267-6645
klong@air-worldwide.com
This
announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf
of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: AIR Worldwide via Globenewswire
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024