Gordon insured losses estimated at $125 million

Storm clouds loom over a pier as Tropical Storm Gordon approaches in Waveland, Mississippi./ REUTERS

Insured losses from Tropical Storm Gordon, which made landfall near the Alabama-Mississippi border Tuesday night with 70 mph sustained wind speeds, will be approximately $125 million, according to Karen Clark & Co.

The Boston-based catastrophe modeler issued the estimate Wednesday based on data from its high-resolution U.S. Hurricane Reference Model.

Modeled estimates include losses to residential, commercial, and industrial properties as well as automobiles, the company said in a statement.

Gordon is the second tropical or subtropical storm to impact the Gulf Coast in 2018 and did not intensify to the Category 1 hurricane that some feared.

Gordon was expected to become a Category 1 hurricane before landfall due to warm sea surface temperatures and relatively low wind shear over the Gulf of Mexico, Clark said.

The storm weakened rapidly once inland and became a tropical depression within hours of landfall, the Clark statement said, bringing tropical storm-force winds to Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.

Tropical storm Gordon started as a tropical depression in the Caribbean on Sunday, becoming a tropical storm Monday near the Florida Keys, according to Clark.