Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the catastrophe modeling firm, said yesterday it has increased its estimate for U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Wilma to $8-to-$12 billion from an original estimate of $6-to-$10 billion.

The Newark, Calif.-based company said its estimate includes onshore damage resulting from wind and coastal storm surge, business interruption, and demand surge, the increased costs for materials and services needed for repairs.

RMS said it upped its estimate of insured loss after further analysis of the wind speeds in the Miami metropolitan area and along the eastern coastline, which Wilma crossed as a large, Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The company said its reconnaissance teams have reported extensive areas of roof damage indicative of wind speeds in excess of 90-100 mph across the area.

Team members have found high-rise commercial buildings in Miami have also sustained significant damage to windows and cladding, contributing to the insured losses, RMS said.

RMS also noted widespread power outages continuing throughout the Miami metropolitan area, as well as in parts of Naples and surrounding communities, which it said will likely propagate business interruption claims.

RMS in addition to information about the impacts from the storm and options for selecting similar events modeled in the RMS U.S. Hurricane Model provides a high-resolution windfield footprint that displays a representation of the distribution of wind speeds across the storm's path.

RMS said it also provides building-level geocoding, which allows users to identify multiple-account accumulations within individual buildings in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area.

It noted that an insurer's exposure in a large commercial building can come from multiple lines of business, multiple coverages and multiple tenants.

RMS said it will continue to monitor Wilma's impact throughout the week.

Special Reports /

Wilma Now Looks Like $12 B Loss: Modeler

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