The catastrophe losses gave the Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer a bottom-line net loss of $2.36 per share for the third quarter. The result essentially erased one-and-a-half quarters of earnings, Mr. Liddy said.

For all of 2004, Allstate reported full-year net income of roughly $3.2 billion. For the first nine months of this year, net income is just $56 million, or 9 cents per share.

Calling the third-quarter result "unacceptable," Mr. Liddy said that it hid what he views as progress in a catastrophe management program that Allstate has been working on for a number of years.

"If Katrina had been a Florida event, we would be talking about a much, much, much smaller number," he said at one point in response to an analyst's question, attempting to underscore the progress in that state.

In the face of actual Katrina losses, however, he admitted, "Our progress wasn't fast enough or deep enough," noting that more would be done "operationally and legislatively" in areas where Allstate is exposed to "historically unprecedented events" like Katrina.

Tom Wilson, president and chief operating officer, listed several future operational actions, including reducing the size of Allstate's property business in U.S. coastal counties by not writing new business as renewals roll off the books. In Florida, he reported, Allstate is writing virtually no new business, while cutbacks along the New York coastlines, for example, are in the 25-to-30 percent range.

"Reducing property exposure to major catastrophes continues to be a top priority," he said, noting that Allstate has been working very aggressively at this for three years.

In addition to cutting back coastal business and using risk management tools to "surgically identify" those coastal risks the company can write, Mr. Wilson said the company is pushing for rate increases appropriate for the risks it takes on, while actively pursuing external legislative solutions and stepping up reinsurance purchases.

On the legislative front, he said, Allstate would like to "see a series of state funds to cover major catastrophes, backed up by a federal program that would enable consumers to have adequate protection at the right price."

"We're starting to get the attention of some legislators," he reported, noting, however, that the attention is at the "discussion" rather than the "action" phase.

With respect to reinsurance, Mr. Wilson said that purchases have increased dramatically since 2002, but Allstate did not have reinsurance protection in Louisiana.