Event modeling company Air Worldwide, the Boston-based business owned by Verisk
VRSK,
said Friday it expects insured losses from Hurricane Ida will range from $17 billion to $25 billion. The company, which serves insurers, reinsurers and governments, said the loss estimates include physical damage to property — residential, commercial, industrial and autos — structures and their contents from winds, wind-borne debris, storm surge and the impact of demand surge. They also include current high material and repair costs in an environment in which supply chains are stretched thanks to the pandemic, but do not include flood losses. “The storm surge Ida produced was along expected lines and generally not as severe as Hurricane Katrina’s–particularly in Mississippi and New Orleans (the latter of which was fully protected by the city’s levee system)–but some areas of southeastern Louisiana with insufficient protection experienced severe storm surge during Ida,” the company said in a statement. The hurricane had a significant impact on Louisiana refinery operations and Gulf of Mexico production and caused historic crude supply-chain disruption, based on an analysis by Wood Mackenzie, another Verisk business. “Utility disruptions caused by lack of power, mobile data services, and water, could lead to Ida becoming a long-tailed event when it comes to claims reporting, payouts, etc.,” said the company.
