Risk Management Solutions catastrophe modeling firm said today it estimates storm Kyrill, which swept across Europe last week, caused an estimated $4-to-$7 billion of insured losses.

This compares with Boston-based AIR Worldwide's model estimate of a Kyrill storm insured loss of $5.2-to-$10.4 billion. AIR said its estimate includes insured losses from damaging wind to onshore properties only.

The storm struck the U.K. while deepening off the coast of Northern Ireland early Thursday morning. After losing strength, Kyrill re-intensified over Denmark, making a heavy strike on Germany and countries farther east.

RMS said the wind speeds caused by Windstorm Kyrill, which had gusts of 70-to-85 mph, cannot be ranked alongside the major 1999 windstorms, Lothar, Anatol and Martin.

Barbara Page, RMS lead model manager for European windstorm modeling, said while the Kyrill losses are low compared to what would be caused today by a storm such as Daria, "Kyrill by nature of its size is a reminder of the loss potential from storms that can impact multiple countries across Europe."

The RMS breakdown of losses shows that most of the damage was caused in the U.K. and Germany, and is likely to come from residential and motor losses.

Significant power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of people will also contribute to down-times and losses from frozen goods, the company said.

In addition, RMS noted that transport was severely disrupted with the high winds and power outages halting many rail networks and hampering flying conditions.

RMS said it is collecting damage observations and will be working extensively with European insurers to build on its historic research into the performance of the European building stock.

Kyrill caused damage over a broader area and was more intense than Windstorm Jeannette in 2002, the last storm to affect these countries, which caused a total insurance bill of over $1 billion.

In the U.K., Kyrill was the most damaging storm since Windstorm Daria in January 1990, but was much less intense. RMS estimates that a repeat of Daria in the U.K. today would cause approximately $7.8 billion in insured losses.

Special Reports /

Kyrill Storm Bill $4-To-$7B, Says RMS

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