Hurricane Helene: loss estimates

According to Standard & Poor's (S&P), Hurricane Helene could cost the US insurance market several billion dollars.

Karen Clark & Company (KCC) estimates the cost to the private insurance sector at 6.4 billion USD.

For its part, the CoreLogic research center is expecting insured losses ranging from 3 to 5 billion USD.

According to Moody's Analytics, the economic losses generated by Helene would be between 20 and 34 billion USD.

On 26 September 2024, the category 4 storm Helene, with 225 km/h winds, severely struck Florida and other southeastern US States.

Accompanied by violent winds and torrential rain, the storm caused heavy material damage, including falling trees, gigantic floods, collapsed homes, destroyed roads and bridges.

As at 3 October, at least 201 people had died, including 100 in North Carolina (the worst-hit state), 41 in South Carolina, 33 in Georgia, 14 in Florida, 11 in Tennessee, and 2 in Virginia.

This is the second deadliest hurricane recorded in the United States in the last fifty years, after “Katrina” in 2005, which claimed more than 1 800 lives.