When Cyclone Niklas slammed into parts of Europe at the end of March, it turns out the insured losses the storm caused were substantial. AIR Worldwide estimates the final tally will range between $1-2 billion.

Germany suffered most of the insured losses in the March 29-31 mega-storm, which included wind damage to onshore residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural properties, as well as automobiles. But Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and the U.K. also sustained damages, the catastrophe modeling firm said.

Niklas brought record wind speeds to coastal regions of Germany that hit 119 km/h, and touched 151 km/h on Feldberg in the Black Forest. They even reached 192 km/h on Zugspitze – Germany’s highest mountain, Air Worldwide said.

Regions faced heavy precipitation, thunderstorms, snowstorms and intermittent squalls. Niklas downed trees that caused damage to vehicles and building roofs, and it also disrupted rail/air travel, AIR Worldwide noted.

Even so, the wind speeds, compared to hurricanes were relatively low. As a result, AIR Worldwide predicted that average claims size will be smaller. But because the damaging winds had such a wide reach, the total claims are expected to be significant.

AIR Worldwide said its insured loss estimates reflect insured physical damage from wind to property, both structures and their contents. It does not include factors such as losses to infrastructure, business interruption and additional living expenses for residential claims for all modeled countries (except the U.K.) or demand surge.

AIR Worldwide is part of Verisk Analytics.

Source: AIR Worldwide