Karen Clark & Co (KCC), a catastrophe modeling company, reported on Thursday that US insurers could face approximately $2.7 billion in losses due to damages inflicted by Hurricane Beryl. On Wednesday, about 1.5 million customers in Texas were still without power, two days after Beryl swept through the state, with slow progress in restoring electricity hindering the rapid restart of crucial oil infrastructure. The hurricane made landfall as a Category 1 storm on Monday near Matagorda, a coastal town about 160 km from Houston, bringing strong winds that toppled power lines and damaged properties.
KCC's report includes estimates for privately insured damages to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and vehicles, along with business interruption costs. However, it excludes damages to boats, offshore properties, and losses covered by the National Flood Insurance Programme. Additionally, KCC noted that privately insured losses in the Caribbean are expected to be around $510 million, and $90 million in Mexico. The trajectory of Hurricane Beryl extends from the Windward Islands in the Caribbean to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re projected that the economic losses in the US from Beryl would be at least $1 billion. Meanwhile, weather forecasting firm AccuWeather provided a preliminary estimate of $28 billion to $32 billion for the total damage and economic impact caused by the hurricane.
