Hurricane Matthew insured losses could reach $8.8bn for US and Caribbean

Insured losses in the US resulting from Hurricane Matthew could range from $2.2 billion to 6.8 billion, while the Caribbean they could range from $600 million to $2 billion, according to catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide.

AIR’s modelled loss estimates account for the insured physical damage to property – commercial, residential industrial and auto – including both structures and their contents.

The estimates to not however account for losses paid out by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), or losses resulting from the compromise of existing defences.

Hurricane Matthew, which developed from a tropical storm into a hurricane on September 29, affected the Caribbean and the south-eastern coastline of the US for nearly two weeks.

Matthew reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 storm on October 1, and on October 4 it clipped western Haiti and eastern Cuba as a Category 4 storm and then proceeded through the Windward Passage to the Bahamas, which it hammered as a Category 4 and Category 3 storm

Although weakening, the storm continued along the eastern coast of Florida and then along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina, before making an exit.

The five US stated impacted – Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia – experienced power outages, affecting millions of homes and businesses.

In Florida, for example, the winds around the eyewall were strong enough to take down trees, powerlines and signs, strip of awning, siding and other non-structural building features.