Hawaiian wildfire may have over $3bn of structures in harm's way
Wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui tore across land in the city of Lahaina with some 2700 exposed structures of a potential $2.8 billion in exposure, Guy Carpenter said in an early view to the ongoing blaze.
The figures are not a loss estimate, only a rough estimate of property in harm's way. Guy Carpenter further hedges its bet with reminder that its buffer zone estimates are a rough take.
The Maui county authorities have already confirmed 55 fatalities in the event as of 19:15 local time Thursday evening (August 10).
Moody's RMS aligned its stance with an estimate issued by the state governor Thursday suggesting over 1700 structures in the city had been damaged or destroyed.
County officials last spoke Wednesday to a preliminary count of affected structures, citing 270 structures as counted in an Air Patrol flyover.
Working from NASA's VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) Active Fire Product, Guy Carpenter took the visible hot spots, added a 500m buffer zone, and counted up the 2700 structures in harm's way in the city.
Three additional fires are also affecting central Maui that collectively are impacting an estimated 700 structures, with an exposure value of approximately $500 million.
State Farm holds the highest market share in Hawaii for multiperil homeowners contracts, data from insurance rating agency AM Best indicates.
State Farm has a 35.2% market share, followed by Tokio Marin with 12.4%, Allstate with 8.0%, USAA Group with 7.1% and Liberty Mutual with 6.1%.
The Maui fires, underway since Tuesday, August 8, remains an ongoing event, the latest communication from the county suggests.
High speed wind gusts upwards of 60 mph resulted as a high-pressure ridge over the northern Pacific Ocean and the low-pressure centre of Hurricane Dora, which was 500 miles south-southwest of Hawaii, created a strong pressure gradient, fuelling the gusts and amplifying wildfire-spread rates, CoreLogic said in a blog on the event.
The federal government made a major disaster declaration on Thursday, August 10, opening the door for government funding and assistance.
Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
