Hurricane Rita caused an estimated $2.5 billion to $5 billion in insured losses in eastern Texas and western Louisiana, catastrophe risk modeler AIR Worldwide said today.
AIR said Rita losses will be much lower than those from Hurricane Katrina because this storm weakened significantly in the day or so before it struck land.
"The heavy commercial and industrial areas of Port Arthur and Beaumont - with their numerous refineries - were to the left of the storm's track, where wind speeds are lower, so we do not expect to see significant structural damage to the refineries," Jayanta Guin, vice president of research and modeling at AIR Worldwide, said in a statement.
AIR's estimate compares with a forecast of $9 billion to $18 billion in insured losses from EQECAT, another of the major catastrophe modeling companies. That outlook was issued mid-afternoon yeterday when Rita was a somewhat more dangerous storm than it ended up being at landfall.
Much of New Orleans was flooded again, less than a month after Hurricane Katrina, as water poured over levees.