Residents remove files from an office building damaged after Hurricane Michael hit in Panama City, Florida, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. The storm made landfall Wednesday in the Florida Panhandle, where most of the damage occurred. The storm brought winds of 155 miles (249 kilometers) per hour, the fourth-strongest hurricane ever to reach the U.S. mainland. (Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg)
Historic Hurricane Michael tore through the Florida Panhandle Wednesday, leaving at least 11 people dead and 350,000 without power as it flattened many coastal communities. Early insured loss estimates from Karen Clark & Co. (KCC) price Hurricane Michael at $8 billion for insurance companies.
That figure includes wind and storm surge damage to homes, cars and industrial and commercial properties covered by private insurers, the company said in a report. KCC estimates that about half of those losses occurred in Bay and Gulf counties. The figure doesn't factor in losses backed by the National Flood Insurance Program.
Most of the damage from Cat-4 Michael came from extraordinary strong wind gusts and high storm surge.
Michael made landfall with near-Cat 5 intensity, packing maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. The storm surge depths ranged from 9 to 14 feet along the most impacted area of the cost, KCC said. Storm surge caused $3.7 billion in total damages and about 10% of that figure is insured.
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Danielle Ling
Danielle Ling is an experienced video journalist and business reporter. As associate editor, Danielle manages all multimedia and reports on industry news and risk-related coverage, managing all weather-related content. A University of Maryland and Philip Merrill College of Journalism alum, Danielle previously served as a video journalist for Verizon FiOS 1 News NJ, Push Pause. Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].
