Private market insured losses from Hurricane Idalia to be $3-5 billion – Moody’s RMS

(Reuters) – Private market insured losses are expected to be between $3 billion and $5 billion due to Hurricane Idalia which struck the Big Bend region of Florida last week, the catastrophe risk modeling business of Moody’s said in a report on Monday.

Idalia hit Florida’s Gulf Coast with fierce winds, torrential rains and pounding surf before weakening but turning to southeastern Georgia, where floodwaters trapped residents in their homes.

The estimates represented insured losses associated with wind, storm surge, and precipitation-induced flooding caused due to the hurricane.

“Major Hurricane Idalia could have been much more impactful had the storm taken a different track or not weakened just before landfall,” said Jeff Waters of Moody’s RMS said.

The report also said it expects around $500 million in losses to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) due to the hurricane.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)