The high activity level of last year's storm season may lead to a shortage of claims adjusters to assess hurricane damage in 2005, according to one industry professional.

James Costner, senior vice president for Willis North America Property Practice, based in New York, noted that the industry has been slow to adjust claims throughout the Caribbean, and that claims still remain outstanding from 2004.

His comments came in the wake of Hurricane Emily's damage to Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. That region, Mr. Costner noted, houses more than 50,000 hotel rooms, "a major size by any definition," putting it on a scale with New York or Las Vegas.

Many of the resorts, most notably Cancun and the island of Cozumel, were built by European and United States investors who would have purchased insurance to protect their investments in the region, he said.

"The volume of claims [from last year] may have outstripped the ability to adjust," said Mr. Costner. "Emily is just exacerbating the problem."

He noted a report from Conning & Company in 2001 that said the industry is not keeping up with the need for claims adjusters, leading to a possible crisis in the future if the industry does not develop more professionals.

"The crisis may be here," said Mr. Costner remarked.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a hurricane warning along the Gulf Coast running from southern Texas, near the border of Texas and Mexico, south to La Cruz, Mexico.

Alejandro Rocha, director of operations for Willis retail, Mexico City, said that the region along the Gulf Coast is filled with tourist spots and hotels but not heavily populated. Exposure details are unavailable, he said.

The NWS forecasts that Hurricane Emily, which at 3 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, was a Category 2 storm on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, would grow in strength before reaching the Gulf Coast some time Wednesday morning. The weather service predicts a coastal storm surge between 6 and 9 feet above normal tide and the possibility of isolated tornadoes over far southern Texas.

Special Reports /

Adjusters May Be Scarce As Emily Nears

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