US Hurricane Losses expected to top $4 billion

Hurricane Laura made landfall around 1 AM US Central Daylight Time, on Thursday, August 27 as a high-end category-4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds reported to be 249 kph.

The hurricane moved ashore near the community of Cameron, Louisiana. With the rapid intensification the hurricane ties or the fifth strongest land falling continental US hurricane on record.

Severe wind damage has been reported to property and infrastructure in much of southwest Louisiana, with Lake Charles, LA damage especially severe. In addition to Louisianan damage has been reported in Texas, Mississippi and Arkansas.

The same hurricane caused damage in the Caribbean in particular Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba, with Haiti being particularly hard hit.

Insured losses estimates range from a low of $4 billion to a high of $12 billion.

The reason for taking such a keen interest in such events is that North America accounts for over 40% of the world’s premium income and the number and severity of damage by hurricanes in any one year can effect reinsurance and therefore insurance premiums world wide.

The US hurricane season this year runs from 1 Jun 2020 to 30 Nov 2020. So far this season there have been 13 severe storms with the first occurring before the official start on 16 May 2020. There was one other event which was graded a depression and not a hurricane.

While 2020 got off to a frightening fast start, 2005 remains the worst in recorded history with 27 named storms formed during that season, breaking the old record of 21 named storms set in 1933.