NU Online News Service, June 14, 12:00 p.m. EDT

AIR Worldwide's latest U.S. hurricane model, Version 12.0, hasbeen approved and certified by the Florida Commission on HurricaneLoss Projection Methodology (FCHLPM).

The Florida commission, which evaluates and certifies computermodels and other actuarial methodologies for hurricane losses, hasapproved models in previous years for firms such as AppliedResearch Associates Inc., EQECAT Inc. and Risk Management SolutionsInc.

The commission evaluates a model based on general,meteorological, actuarial, statistical and computer standards andtries to capture the performance of a model in each of these areas,said Randy Dumm, chairman of FCHLPM. The model must pass allstandards successfully in order to become certified, he added.

AIR, the Boston-based catastrophe modeling firm, had the firsthurricane model to meet the standards of the FCHLPM in 1996 and hasbeen certified for use in the Florida residential ratemaking everyyear since, said Kevin Long, AIR spokesman.

"Certification to these standards provides AIR model users withincreased confidence for employing our models for all catastropherisk management activities," said Mr. Long.

AIR said its latest U.S. hurricane model includes the latestmeteorological understanding on hurricane structure, a basin-widecatalog, a model domain including 29 states and the District ofColumbia, and more detailed modeling of spatial and temporalvariations in vulnerability.