Hurricane Hermine to incur losses of $500m
Insured losses from Hurricane Hermine could approach $500 million with total economic damages approaching $1 billion, according to Karen Clark & Company (KCC), a provider of catastrophe loss estimates and risk management services.
It is likely the storm will produce over 50,000 insurance claims, primarily relating to residential properties and autos, and will be spread across the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Hurricane Hermine, with estimated peak sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, made landfall near St Marks, Florida at 1:30am local time on Friday morning.
The Category 1 hurricane then moved across the northern part of the state and into Georgia, generating storm surge heights between six and nine feet along the Florida Panhandle and northwest coastal regions.
Hermine is the first hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma in 2005, and KCC expects there to be damage typical for a Category 1 hurricane, including power outages and destruction from falling trees, as well as coastal flooding damage and low level wind damage to roofs and siding.
