Hurricane Katrina made its second US landfall on August 29th insouthern Plaquemines parish, Louisiana, about 70 milessouth-southeast of New Orleans. The storm subsequently swept acrossMississippi, Alabama and western Florida. Katrina was a category 4storm at landfall with sustained winds of 140 miles per hour. Thestorm weakened slightly on its approach to land and was downgradedfrom category 5 to category 4.

The insurance industry faces as much as $25 billion in claimsfrom Katrina, according to preliminary assessments. AIR WorldwideCorporation said that insured losses could total $12 billion to $26billion. Eqecat said damage could range from $9 billion to $16billion while Risk Management Solutions (RMS) estimated an insuredloss at between $10 billion to $25 billion. The InsuranceInformation Institute (III), meanwhile, predicts the insuranceindustry payout could range from $12 billion to $25 billion.

The storm killed at least 57 people along the Gulf of Mexicocoast and caused severe and widespread damage, according toreports. Katrina cut power to 1.3 million homes and businesses inLouisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and authorities said itcould be two months before electricity is completely restored. InMississippi, streets and homes were flooded as far as 6 milesinland. Governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency anddescribed Katrina's aftermath as “catastrophic.” BBC News said theMississippi towns of Biloxi and Gulfport were badly hit by Katrinaas winds of 135 miles per hour pounded the state's coast.

Several beachfront casinos in Mississippi were flooded, reportssaid. A 22-foot storm surge was recorded in Bay St. Louis.Emergency officials said fifty people were killed in HarrisonCounty (including 30 people at a beach-side apartment complex inBiloxi) while four other deaths were reported in the counties ofWarren, Leake, Pearl River and Hinds. There have been threeconfirmed fatalities in New Orleans.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled New Orleans before Katrinacame ashore. Although the city, which sits around 6 feet below sealevel, was spared a direct hit, severe flooding occurred after alevee holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain was breached.New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said 80% of the city is underwater. Headded the water is 20 feet deep in some parts. Around 9,000 peoplewho were unable to evacuate the city spent the night at theSuperdome arena. Winds of up to 100 miles per hour were recorded inNew Orleans which damaged the Superdome and several otherbuildings, according to reports. Elsewhere in Louisiana, around40,000 homes were flooded in St. Bernard just east of NewOrleans.

In Alabama, Governor Bob Riley declared a state of emergency asthe storm hit the state's coast with huge waves and powerful winds.Flooding was reported on Dauphin Island and sections of Mobile wereinundated after the storm pushed water from Mobile Bay into thetown, reports said. All residents living in coastal and low-lyingareas in southern areas of Mobile County and flood-prone areas ofBaldwin County were told to evacuate their homes. Katrina's outerbands also spawned tornadoes throughout the US south-east. TheFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said it is preparing tohouse tens of thousands of people for several months while theAmerican Red Cross announced it is launching the largest reliefoperation in its history.

Katrina also caused damage to offshore oil rigs after crossingthe Gulf of Mexico as a category 5 storm. More than 700 offshoreplatforms and rigs were evacuated. Reports said at least twodrilling rigs were adrift in the Gulf and another in Mobile Baybroke free of its mooring and lodged under a bridge. On Monday, theprice of oil surged to a record of $70.80 amid concerns thatKatrina would cause significant disruption to operations. Reportssaid Katrina has already halted production of around 630,000barrels of crude a day, around 12 percent of daily output. Analystswarned the figure could rise significantly once damage assessmentsare complete.

Earlier, Katrina made landfall between Hallandale Beach andNorth Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County on August 25th. Winds of upto 80 miles per hour were recorded at landfall. Eleven people werekilled and 1.3 million customers were left without power inMiami-Dade County, Broward County and Palm Beach County. Two menwere killed in Broward by falling trees, police said. The storm'sslow forward speed also caused serious flooding in the region whileseas were estimated at 15 feet. Around 15 inches of rain wasrecorded in parts of Miami-Dade County. AIR Worldwide estimatesinsured losses from Katrina's first landfall could approach $600million while RMS said insurance companies could pay between $1billion to $2 billion.

Sources: National Hurricane Center, Associated Press, CNN News,BBC News, Agence France

Presse, Reuters News, Charleston Gazette, The Palm BeachPost

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