Oakland-Calif.-based EQECAT Inc. said that updated data now indicates that such losses will fall in the $6-to-$8 billion range, down from previous figures that put it up to $14 billion.

Jeanne made landfall late Saturday night on the southeastern coast of Florida as a Category 3 storm in much the same area that Hurricane Frances did on Sept. 3.

"While a more intense hurricane, Jeanne was not as large or as slow moving as Frances and will more likely result in similar insured losses," said AIR spokesman Mike Gannon.

EQECAT senior vice president Tom Larsen said that several aspects of Jeanne will make it difficult for the industry to determine final loss.

Since the tracks of Jeanne and Frances mimicked each other, the most vulnerable structures in the area would already have been destroyed by the first event and can only be counted once.

"However, countering this factor is that the structures partially damaged by Frances were more vulnerable to damage from Jeanne, resulting in an upward estimate," Mr. Larsen said.

The hurricane did not traverse the state and therefore spared the west coast.

"In addition, the intensity of maximum winds, as the storms moved across Florida, was less than predicated by NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)," he added.

As the total insured damage loss from the four events approaches the $25 billion mark, or about the total in today's dollars of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, analysts will be keeping a sharp eye on the impact on pricing.

Prudential analyst Jay Gelb said that losses over $20 billion will stabilize the property reinsurance market, even though several billion dollars of the losses will be covered by the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.