Cyclone Gabrielle pegged at $1.2bn hit to New Zealand: PERILS
Cyclone Gabrielle may have rendered NZ$2.018 billion ($1.2 billion) in insured losses during early February trek across the north island of New Zealand, the Swiss-based nat cat counter PERILS said in its third event estimate.
The updated figure, issued six months after the event, adds nearly 5% to the tally available after three months but nearly 31% from the level estimated after a mere six weeks.
The headline sum is 54% composed of personal property losses and 46% from commercial lines.
Gabrielle brought “extreme rainfall and strong winds” to the North Island between February 11 and 17. The storm delivered rainfall of up to 568mm in 48 hours and with maximum wind gusts of up to 146 km/h.
Cyclone Gabrielle occurred less than two weeks after the exceptional North Island Floods for which PERILS has last estimated industry losses of NZ$1.995 billion.
Darryl Pidcock, head of PERILS Asia-Pacific, commented: : “The last six months have been very challenging for policyholders and insurers given two such large events impacting the North Island. We hope the availability of our detailed loss and exposure data can support the industry’s efforts to better understand atmospheric risks as it works closely with policyholders, communities, and government in the recovery of the affected areas.”
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