Jeanne could be year's costliest -- Losses from fourth major storm this year estimated at between $4 billion and $8 billion.

From: Psalm 110 (Gods_Fist_at_sbcglobal.net)
Date: 09/26/04 

Date: 26 Sep 2004 16:00:01 -0700

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/26/news/economy/jeanne/?cnn=yes

Jeanne could be year's costliest
Losses from fourth major storm this year estimated at between $4
billion and $8 billion.
September 26, 2004: 3:12 PM EDT
By Chris Isidore, CNN/Money senior writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Hurricane Jeanne has the potential to be the
most expensive storm to hit the United States in a year of expensive
storms.

Jeanne came ashore near Stuart, FL, just before midnight Saturday,
about 10 miles from where Frances hit Labor Day weekend. The storm had
sustained winds of 120 mph but by Sunday afternoon had weakened to
tropical storm status. (Click here for CNN.com hurricane coverage.)

Risk Management Solutions, a catastrophe modeling firm that works for
the insurance industry, estimated Sunday that Jeanne could cause
between $4 billion and $8 billion in insured losses in the United
States. A loss at the upper end of that range would be second only to
Hurricane Andrew, which in 1992 caused $20 billion in insured losses,
adjusted for inflation.

RMS meteorologist Kyle Beatty said the fact that Jeanne is so closely
following the path of Frances is adding to the cost. Many buildings
that were damaged by Frances have not been completely repaired yet and
would be more susceptible to further damage, said Beatty.

"If a roof hasn't been fully fixed, there's greater risk of water
damage," he said.

In addition Beatty said that some insurers were allowing customers who
were hit by both Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Charley to count the
losses as a single event, not forcing them to pay two separate
deductibles that could be between 2 and 5 percent of a home's value. A
similar policy for Jeanne would increase insured losses, he said.

Another factor driving up losses could be the shortage of contractors
and some supplies needed to make repairs.

Even if Jeanne causes only $4 billion in insured losses, that is
likely enough to make it either the fifth or sixth most expensive
storm in U.S. history.

And the total insured losses will make this among the most expensive
years for insurers, with total losses now estimated at between about
$18 billion and $25 billion. This is the first year since 1985 that
has had at least four storms make it to the U.S. mainland at hurricane
strength.

Analysts with insurance rating agency AM Best said earlier this month
that the insurance industry and the reinsurance industry should both
have sufficient resources to handle the large claims being seen this
year. Top of page

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