Insured losses from Typhoon Krosa, which hit Taiwan on Saturday with high winds and flooding, are unlikely to exceed $200 million, AIR Worldwide Corp. estimated today.
The Boston-based catastrophe risk modeling company said Krosa, which arrived with sustained winds of 115 mph, had damaged roofs, blown down billboards and awnings, and uprooted trees across northern Taiwan.
While AIR said it does not expect significant structural damage to the reinforced concrete construction that dominates the country, the firm noted there is likely to be widespread wind damage to nonstructural elements.
"Fortunately, Krosa's ultimate track just inland along the coast meant the storm's strongest winds remained well away from Taipei. Keelung City, which lay directly in the path of the storm, was less fortunate," said Peter Sousounis, senior research scientist at AIR.
More than 400,000 households in Keelung were reported without power at the height of the storm. At one point, more than two million homes and residences across the country were without power, according to AIR.
After a second Krosa landfall along the northern tip of Taiwan, mudslides buried several houses and blocked roads, including at least one major highway in the eastern part of the country.
Waist-high flooding was reported in several low-lying areas, including a suburb of Taipei.
On Sunday the storm made landfall near the border of Zhejiang's Cangnan County and Fujian's Fuding City in China, bringing heavy rain but winds at landfall below typhoon status at 73 mph.
In advance of Krosa's arrival officials in mainland China evacuated more than a million people, AIR said.
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