A catastrophe modeling firm said today it estimates that insured losses from Hurricane Ophelia will not exceed $800 million.
AIR Worldwide in Boston said the storm's top wind speeds were 95 miles per hour or below, making it a Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson strength scale throughout its trek along the Atlantic coast.
AIR said that even though Ophelia did not technically make landfall as it skirted the coastline, hurricane-force winds battered much of the North Carolina coast with tropical storm force winds (not exceeding 73 mph) extending from south of Charleston, S.C., to north of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
"Though its strongest winds remained over the Atlantic, Ophelia will still impact the insurance industry," said Jayanta Guin, vice president for research and modeling at AIR Worldwide Corp.
"With an average forward speed of only about three miles-per-hour, many areas were subject to hurricane and tropical storm force winds for more than 24 hours. This continued pounding weakens building components and ultimately leads to more damage than would normally be expected at these wind speeds," Mr. Guin noted.
AIR said it expects widespread damage to roof shingles, cladding, and other non-structural components, such as awnings. Additional property damage is anticipated from trees felled by the storm.
Power was knocked out to more than 200,000 homes and businesses, which AIR said is expected to result in some business interruption losses.
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