SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--The varying and belated damage estimatesafter Hurricane Ike resulted from a storm that was a rarelyoccurring weather event, according to a catastrophe modelingcompany.

Uday Virkud, AIR Worldwide executive vice president, said Ikewas "very unique" because it re-gathered strength and did moredamage when it joined with another dangerous weather system afterbeing downgraded from hurricane status.

Maximum estimates of total industry insured loss for Ike havevaried widely--Aspen Insurance Holdings, $16 billion; AIRWorldwide, $17 billion; Validus Holdings, $18 billion; and RiskManagement Solutions, $21 billion.

The storm, after buffeting Texas and Louisiana, had beenpetering out and the National Hurricane Center had left offtracking it, Mr. Virkud explained. Ike then moved north and teamedup with an extra tropical cyclone in Ohio, and the two reenergizedand battered that state with winds from 60 mph to 70 mph.

Also hit by the same storm combo were parts of Arkansas,Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York,Tennessee and West Virginia, according to AIR.

Peter Dailey, director of atmospheric science at Boston-basedAIR, said that normally, extra tropical cyclones move east to westwhile hurricanes track northward, so for the two to combineinvolves unusual timing. Extra tropical cyclones, he said, arenormally stronger in winter and cause events such as blizzards.

After Ike moved through the Midwest, AIR said it supplementedits real-time estimate of up to $14 million insured damage ($2million to offshore facilities, $12 million onshore) to add "Ikeremnants" losses of up to $3 million.

Mr. Dailey said catastrophe damage models are constantlyimproving and adding new factors. In 2005 when Katrina hit,modelers did not have a framework for possible damage to energyoperations offshore, he noted.

After the 2004 hurricane season in Florida, he added, modelswere changed to account for the damage that can occur to expensivepool enclosures that are a feature of many homes in that state.

Mr. Dailey could not say what the odds are for Florida avoidinganother severe hurricane hit, but he mentioned that the yearlyaverage number of hurricanes making U.S. landfall is 1.8 andFlorida has the highest frequency among states with hurricanelandfalls.

The state has not been hit by a hurricane since 2005, he said,noting that each hurricane season is independent, so either twohurricanes hitting the nation or zero next year would be nosurprise.

Mr. Daily and Mr. Virkud were interviewed in Scottsdale, Ariz.,where they were on hand to meet with clients at the site of theProperty Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).