Insured losses could reach $35 billion and total costs could reach $100 billion (First estimate..):
A risk management firm yesterday offered the first estimate of economic losses from Hurricane Katrina - $100 billion - and said that private insurance would probably cover less than a quarter of that. Federal money and charitable contributions may need to do the rest.
Saying the damage already appeared far greater than expected, Risk Management Solutions in Newark, Calif., said that insured losses would range from $20 billion to $35 billion, much higher than the firm's initial estimate of $10 billion to $25 billion.
And this:
Risk Management Solutions estimated that the flood in New Orleans had inundated 150,000 properties, making it the most damaging flood in the nation's history. The most recent flood of similar proportions, the firm said, was a 1953 flood in the Netherlands. It, too, was caused by a major storm surge that overwhelmed barriers protecting a city below sea level. That flood submerged 47,000 properties and killed 1,800 people. It took six months to pump the community dry.
