Hurricane Nate will likely cause close to $500 million in insured losses, according to a flash estimate from catastrophe modeling form Karen Clark & Co.
While the number is not insignificant, it is relatively small compared to what is estimated for two Mexico earthquakes and the three other hurricanes that hit land in the U.S. in the previous two months.
Morgan Stanley, for example, predicts insurers and reinsurers alike will see Q3 insured losses that could surpass $100 billion the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as the two Mexico quakes.
The firm based its late September estimate, in part, on AIR Worldwide calculations of $40 billion to $85 billion in insured losses from Maria, 85 percent of which comes from Puerto Rico. Another $10 billion to $25 billion in insured losses came from Harvey, excluding $11 billion in National Flood Insurance Program losses. Between $32 billion and $52 billion in insured losses resulted from Hurricane Irma (that includes as much as $20 billion from the Caribbean.
KCC said its Hurricane Nate insured loss estimate is based on high resolution wind and storm surge models, including insured wind and storm surge losses to residential, commercial and industrial properties and autos.
Nate formed as a tropical depression on October 4, was upgraded to a tropical storm a day later, and caused extensive flooding in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
KCC noted that Nate was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on Oct. 6, and had been expected to intensify to a Category 2 intensity before landfall, a prediction that did not take place.
Hurricane Nate made landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi as a Category 1 hurricane with peak winds of 85 miles per hour on Oct. 8, and dissipated rapidly after landfall.
Source: Karen Clark & Co.