A human but also material cost. The death toll from Hurricane Ian was revised to 23 on Friday, and it could rise further. And the disaster could cost insurers up to 47 billion dollars and will weigh on American growth, indicate initial estimates. According to the specialist firm CoreLogic, wind-related losses on residential and commercial properties are expected to reach insurers between 22 and 32 billion dollars, while flood-related losses could cost 6 to 15 billion dollars.
“This is the costliest storm in Florida since Hurricane Andrew made landfall in 1992 and a record number of homes and properties have been lost due to Hurricane Ian’s intense and destructive characteristics,” a CoreLogic official commented in a statement released Thursday. The rating agency Fitch, for its part, estimates the insured losses at between 25 and 40 billion dollars in Florida, an amount which could rise depending on the impact of Ian on the states further north.
Many large insurance groups had already deserted the state, leading to the liquidation of smaller companies in the sector, recalls Fitch in a note Thursday. Hurricane Ian will potentially drive even more insurance companies out of business in Florida, the agency predicts.
These first estimates do not take into account buildings without flood insurance, which represent the vast majority of real estate in Florida. According to data from the Milliman firm transmitted to AFP on Friday, only 18.5% of the houses in the counties subject to an evacuation order as the hurricane approaches have insurance taken out with the public body in charge of bring this kind of coverage (National flood insurance program), the most common way to insure yourself against floods.
Florida’s GDP hit hard
Between power cuts, flight cancellations, damage to agricultural production such as oranges, Hurricane Ian will also significantly disrupt the economic activity of the State for at least ten days. It should weigh on Florida’s gross domestic product by 6% in the third quarter and on that of the United States by 0.3%, estimated Gregory Daco, economist for the firm EY-Parthenon.
As with all natural disasters, this economic impact will gradually diminish as “a reconstruction effort will be undertaken in terms of port, road and residential infrastructure”, indicates Gregory Daco. But this effect “takes place over several years”, underlines the specialist.
