Hurricane Francine’s damage could add up to $1.5 billion in insured losses in Louisiana, according to an early estimate, adding further stress to the state’s already fragile property insurance market.
The $1.5 billion estimate comes from catastrophe risk modeller CoreLogic.
AM Best, an insurance rating agency, said if the estimate is accurate “losses will likely be manageable in aggregate” for the industry, but warned “there could be pockets of concentrations” that create concern.
Hurricane Francine made landfall Sept. 11 as a Category 2 storm in what’s known as bayou country.
CoreLogic’s insured loss estimate includes damage to buildings, contents and business interruption for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural property but doesn’t include rain-induced inland flooding or losses to the National Flood Insurance Program.
Louisiana’s property insurance market was thrown into crisis following a rash of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021, threatening affordability and accessibility to home ownership.
Hurricanes Laura and Ida alone generated a combined 800,000 Louisiana insurance claims totaling $25 billion ($14 billion from Ida), causing at least eight insurance companies to fail and other companies to stop writing new business below Interstate 10.
Ida was one of the most expensive storms in Louisiana history with an overall economic impact $75 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Francine’s impacts occurred in a similar strike zone.
Last week AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Francine in the United States was $9 billion.
AccuWeather’s said its estimate largely accounts for damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure, facilities, roadways and vehicles as well as power outages, which results in food spoilage and interruption to medical care.
More: Hurricane Francine leaves Louisiana bruised, but no storm deaths reported
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Will Hurricane Francine escalate Louisiana property insurance crisis?
