Superstorm Sandy will likely become the third-costliest hurricane in U.S. insurance history, but when examining historical storms using today's dollars and exposures, Sandy would fall to the 12th costliest storm, says the Insurance Information Institute.

In a presentation posted on I.I.I.'s website, initially given at Midwestern Actuarial Forum in Chicago today, I.I.I. Chief Economist Steve Weisbart projected Sandy insured losses to hit $20 billion, based on estimates of catastrophe-modeling firms and reported losses as of Jan. 12. That would place Sandy behind 1992's Hurricane Andrew ($25.6 billion in insured losses) and ahead of 2008's Hurricane Ike ($13.4 billion). All of those storms are dwarfed by 2005's Katrina ($48.8 billion).

However, even mighty Katrina would be a middle-of-the-pack hurricane if some storms from the past occurred today. A 1926 hurricane that struck Miami, for example, would cause $125 billion in insured losses today. Another storm that struck mid-Florida in 1928 would cause $65 billion in insured losses. Factoring in these storms from the past, Katrina would fall to the sixth-costliest hurricane — tied with a 1915 storm that struck Galveston, Texas and just ahead of the 1938 Long Island Express that struck parts of New England.