Total damage from Irene could reach $7B

LOS ANGELES, California – The head of a leading assessment firm estimated Monday that total damages from Hurricane Irene that swept across the eastern United States over the weekend could reach up to $7 billion.

The storm, which has now moved into Canada as a post-tropical cyclone, could cost insurers between $1.5 billion and $3 billion to cover claims for damaged homes, vehicles and businesses, according to Jose Miranda, director of Eqecat Inc., a catastrophic risk management firm from Oakland, California.

Total damage, including uninsured losses, could range from $5 billion to $7 billion, he told The Los Angeles Times.

By comparison, Hurricane Katrina which flooded much of New Orleans in 2005, reportedly cost more than $70 billion in insured losses alone, the paper noted.

“I think the damage is much less severe than had been feared and the economic impact will, therefore, be a lot smaller than people predicted,” The Times quoted Mark Zandi, chief economist at research firm Moody’s Analytics, as saying.

Millions of people were without power along the East Coast after the huge storm passed over the northeastern United States and headed for Canada.

At least 18 deaths were blamed on the storm, which first slammed into North Carolina on Saturday as a Category One hurricane, before turning north up the coast and weakening.