Hurricane Zeta insured losses at up to $4bn: CoreLogic

Global property data analytics provider CoreLogic has estimated insured losses from Hurricane Zeta wind and storm surge to be between $2.5 billion to $4 billion.

Zeta, a Category 2 storm, made landfall on October 28 and impacted nine US states, with the highest losses in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

The insured wind losses for residential and commercial properties in these three states are estimated to be between $2.2 billion and $3.5 billion, while insured storm surge losses are estimated to be an additional $0.3 billion to $0.5 billion.

CoreLogic's analysis includes residential homes and commercial properties, including contents and business interruption and does not include broader economic loss from the storm.

Hurricane Zeta is the fifth named storm to strike Louisiana this season.

“With one month to go, this hurricane season has been incredibly destructive due to the consistent cadence of storms and their too-similar landfall paths. While southwestern Louisiana was largely spared from Hurricane Zeta, New Orleans fell directly in the storm’s quick-moving path,” said Curtis McDonald, meteorologist and senior product manager of CoreLogic. “The important thing right now is to restore power to the millions of homes in the southeastern states, continue damage repairs in previously impacted homes and prepare for what could be record-breaking hurricane activity in November.”

Tom Larsen, principal, insurance solutions at CoreLogic, added: “Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and severity across the board. Sophisticated catastrophe modeling estimates the impact of natural disasters with greater certainty, a key solution to addressing underinsurance issues and risk mitigation. It is imperative for mortgage lenders and insurance carriers to begin leveraging technology to better protect homeowners, accelerate local economic recovery and protect their business.”