If a Category 5 hurricane with winds exceeding 155 mph, such as Hurricane Katrina, hits Florida or parts of the East Coast, it could inflict insured losses of over $100 billion, an insurance expert warned today.

Robert Hartwig, president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute sounded that alarm at the 2007 National Hurricane Conference meeting in New Orleans, according to a statement from his organization.

I.I.I. said insurers paid more than $40 billion to 1.7 million U.S. policyholders in six states after Katrina struck in August 2005.

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