Record Claims Possible For Hurricane Claudette
By Mark E. Ruquet
NU Online News Service, July 21, 2:31 p.m. EDT ?Hurricane Claudette, the killer storm that hit Texas, could be one of the costliest to hit the state, if early estimates hold true.
Preliminary loss estimates from the storm, which hit southern Texas last Tuesday leaving two dead, are put at between $60 to $80 million, according to the Insurance Information Institute Inc. There are about 5,000 homeowner claims and 1,000 auto claims reported so far, the New York City-based I.I.I. said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Friday that five counties, Calhoun,
Victoria, Jackson, Matagorda and Refugio, were declared disaster areas by President George W. Bush, making them eligible for federal aid. A disaster declaration is still pending for 10 other counties, the governor said in a statement.
Dave Dasgupta, a spokesman for Jersey City, N.J.-based Insurance Services Office Inc., said that ISO has declared the storm a catastrophe, which means losses would run more than $25 million. He said the association should have storm loss figures by some time next week.
Claudette was forecast by the National Weather Service to be a category one hurricane, but may have turned out to be more powerful than predicted. The National Weather Service is analyzing data and may upgrade the storm to a category two storm, which means wind speeds were between 96 to 110 mph.
According to a report released by the Insurance Council of Texas, Claudette could be one of the 15 costliest storms to hit the state since 1950 in terms of actual dollars in insured losses. If estimates hold, Claudette would surpass Hurricane Allen, the 15th costliest Texas storm which hit the state in 1980 and cost $58 million in insured losses.
The council's report on the state's costliest and deadliest storms since 1950 was released before Claudette hit Texas.
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