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Hurricane Delta insured losses pegged at close to $1.25 billion

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Hurricane Delta

Insured losses to onshore properties from Hurricane Delta will be close to $1.25 billion, Boston-based catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. said in a statement Tuesday.

The estimate includes $950 million in wind and storm surge losses in the U.S. and $300 million in wind losses in Mexico resulting from privately insured damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties and automobiles only, KCC said.

The figure does not include National Flood Insurance Program losses or losses to any offshore assets, nor any potential impacts on losses due to COVID-19, KCC said.

Also Tuesday, data and analytics firm CoreLogic estimated insured wind and storm surge losses for residential and commercial properties in Louisiana and Texas due to Delta at up to $1.2 billion.

Damage to Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling platforms is estimated at up to $1.5 billion, CoreLogic said.

Hurricane Delta made two landfalls, the first near Puerto Morelos, Mexico, with winds of 110 mph and the second near Creole, Louisiana, with 100 mph winds.

In Mexico, high winds caused moderate damage on the Yucatan Peninsula but no widespread structural damage, KCC said. In Cancun and Cozumel there was damage to roofs, openings and building facades, and 200,000 customers in the area lost power.

Delta’s U.S. landfall in southwestern Louisiana was just over 12 miles from where Hurricane Laura came ashore six weeks earlier.

Delta brought high winds causing moderate damage to many of the same communities still recovering in addition to other cities such as Abbeville, Crowley and Intracoastal City that were not as impacted by Laura, KCC said.

Window openings, roofs and building facades were damaged in an area from Lake Charles to Abbeville and inland to Opelousas. Structural damage in this area was confined to lightweight structures, such as warehouses and gas station pavilions, older structures, and buildings impacted by fallen trees, KCC said.

Lake Charles — the city most affected by Hurricane Laura — also saw high winds from Delta and many roofs waiting for repairs had tarps blown off, likely causing additional damage to these buildings, KCC said. Other properties in the area were also damaged.

Light wind damage was widespread throughout Louisiana, including in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, KCC said. Over 700,000 customers in affected areas of Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi lost power due to the storm.

Delta was the 10th named storm to make a U.S. landfall this year — the most since 1916 — and the 25th named storm of the 2020 North Atlantic hurricane season.

Estimates were based on the KCC high-resolution U.S. and Mexico hurricane reference models.