European windstorm losses could top $3 billion: Modeler
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Insured losses from Europe's Windstorm Christian — known as St. Jude in the United Kingdom — will range from €1.5 billion ($2.02 billion) to €2.3 billion ($3.10 billion), catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide said Thursday.
The majority of insured losses from the late October storm occurred in Denmark and Germany, AIR said. Significant insured losses also occurred in France, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, according to the Boston-based modeler.
Residential and commercial structures across the affected area experienced relatively minor wind damage, and structural damage to well-constructed buildings was limited, AIR said.
“Consistent with the expectations of AIR engineers, nonstructural damage was observed to roofs, cladding and other external building components, and wind-borne debris caused damage to windows,” AIR said in the analysis. “Heavier damage occurred from trees (many of which still had leaves on them) falling on buildings, cars and power lines. In the U.K., many claims resulted from power outages that destroyed food in freezers.”
AIR said that although the size of individual claims is expected to be relatively low, the overall volume of claims is expected to be significant due to the size of the area affected by the storm.
AIR said that it expects insured losses to be the highest in Denmark, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.
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