RMS Estimates Ike Insured Losses up to $200 Million – So Far

Risk Management Solutions estimates that the damage wreaked by Hurricane Ike in the popular Turks & Caicos Islands and Bahamas at between $50 million and $200 million. RMS said the majority of the losses were due to “wind and storm surge damage, as well as loss amplification, where pressure on the supply of goods and services drives up prices.”

The report said, “Grand Turk Island bore the brunt of Ike’s winds and storm surge, and accounts for more than 70 percent – or $35 million to $140 million – of the total loss. Reports indicate 90 percent of all properties had wind damage. Around 20 percent of the total loss can be allocated to the south-eastern Bahamas, with the rest coming from the North and South Caicos Islands.”

RMS also made some preliminary comments on Ike’s expected landfall along the Texas coast (See related articles). Where it will come ashore is still uncertain, but RMS pointed out that both Galveston and Houston “will be well within the extent of hurricane force winds. The intensity at landfall is forecast to be category 3.

Dr. Ziehmann, director of model management at RMS added: “Ike has now become an exceptionally broad storm, and as a result the majority of offshore platforms will feel its impact to some degree. Onshore, a vast area will also be affected by damaging winds if Ike retains its size, and officials in Texas are already instigating mass evacuations of much of the coastline.”

Source: Risk Management Solutions – www.rms.com