Property losses from Harvey could hit $75 billion: AIR
Posted On: Sep. 7, 2017 8:15 AM CST
Property losses in Texas due to the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey’s record-breaking rainfall will be between $65 billion and $75 billion, catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide said Wednesday.
This includes damage to all properties eligible for coverage and does not include losses from Harvey’s winds or storm surge, the Boston-based unit of Verisk Analytics Inc. said in a statement.
Industry insured losses from wind, flood and storm surge combined are expected to exceed $10 billion, with approximately $ 3 billion from winds and storm surge, not including losses to the National Flood Insurance Program.
AIR said that the estimates include onshore residential, commercial and industrial properties and their contents, automobiles and time-element coverage, such as additional living expenses for residential properties and business interruption for commercial properties.
The estimates do not, however, include contingent business interruption losses resulting from the closure of oil refineries in the region, AIR said.
Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas, on Aug. 24, bringing record-breaking rainfall of 51.88 inches in Cedar Bayou near Houston. More than half of the 120 river gauging stations in the Houston/Galveston area were in various stages of flooding during the event, according to AIR.