Hurricane Ike May Become Fourth Most Expensive Hurricane in U.S. History September 22, 2008 SHARE THIS DOWNLOAD TO PDF Risk Modeling Estimates Shows Billions of Dollars in Losses INSURANCE INFORMATION INSTITUTE Contact: Press Offices New York: 212-346-5500;
[email protected] Washington, D.C.: 202-833-1580 NEW YORK, September 22, 2008 - Hurricane Ike, which made landfall in southeastern Texas on Saturday, September 13, may have caused $9.8 billion in insured damage. This preliminary estimate is based on an Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) analysis of the damage assessments by catastrophe risk modeling firms that have examined the situation so far. Billions more in losses are insured through the federal government's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). "If the $9.8 billion figure holds, Hurricane Ike will rank as the fourth most expensive hurricane and sixth most expensive insurance event in U.S. history," said Dr. Robert Hartwig, president of the I.I.I. The only other catastrophes that would exceed Hurricane Ike in terms of insured property losses are, in order of severity and adjusted to 2007 dollars, Hurricane Katrina (2005, $43.6 billion), Hurricane Andrew (1992, $22.9 billion), the September 11 terrorist attacks (2001, $22 billion), the Northridge, California earthquake (1994, $17.5 billion) and Hurricane Wilma (2005, $10.9 billion). "Insurers are the nation's economic first responders at a time like this, and thousands of adjusters have arrived in or are making their way to the communities that were damaged severely by Hurricane Ike," said Dr. Robert Hartwig, an economist and president of I.I.I.