Superstorm Sandy will likely become the third-costliesthurricane in U.S. insurance history, but when examining historicalstorms using today's dollars and exposures, Sandy would fall to the12th costliest storm, says the Insurance Information Institute.

In a presentation posted on I.I.I.'s website, initially given atMidwestern Actuarial Forum in Chicago today, I.I.I. Chief EconomistSteve Weisbart projected Sandy insured losses to hit $20 billion,based on estimates of catastrophe-modeling firms and reportedlosses as of Jan. 12. That would place Sandy behind 1992'sHurricane Andrew ($25.6 billion in insured losses) and ahead of2008's Hurricane Ike ($13.4 billion). All of those storms aredwarfed by 2005's Katrina ($48.8 billion).

However, even mighty Katrina would be a middle-of-the-packhurricane if some storms from the past occurred today. A 1926hurricane that struck Miami, for example, would cause $125 billionin insured losses today. Another storm that struck mid-Florida in1928 would cause $65 billion in insured losses. Factoring in thesestorms from the past, Katrina would fall to the sixth-costliesthurricane — tied with a 1915 storm that struck Galveston, Texas andjust ahead of the 1938 Long Island Express that struck parts of NewEngland.

But with the lack of exposures back then compared to those thatexist today, none of those destructive storms of the past crack theactual list of top-12 costliest storms. Instead, the current listfeatures 10 storms that have occurred from 2004 and later. The onlytwo not from that time period are Andrew and 1989's Hurricane Hugo($7.8 billion in insured losses).

After the top four of Katrina, Andrew, Sandy and Ike, the listshows 2005's Wilma ($11.1 billion in insured losses), 2004'sCharley ($9.2 billion), 2004's Ivan ($8.7 billion), Hugo, 2005'sRita ($6.7 billion), 2004's Frances ($5.6 billion), 2004's Jeanne($5.6 billion) and 2011's Irene ($4.4 billion).

On the top-12 list that includes historical storms with today'sexposures, only Katrina, Andrew and Sandy make the cut.

For his presentation, Weisbart relied in part on research doneby Karen Clark & Co. for the current costs of historichurricanes. Last year, PC360 provided the below infographic basedon Karen Clark & Co.'s research.