Sandy Insured Loss Estimates Continue to Roll In

With the East Coast continuing to recover from superstorm Sandy, there are still wide ranges in the estimated insured losses. Risk analysis company EQECAT has estimated insured losses ranging from $10 billion to $20 billion, and total economic damages ranging from $30 billion to $50 billion. RMS estimates insured losses in the United States to range from $20 billion to $25 billion. And AIR Worldwide estimates insured losses ranging from $7 billion to $15 billion.

Some of the large insurers at the heart of the storm have released claims and catastrophe loss estimates. As of Thursday, November 15:

• State Farm Mutual Group reported 95,203 total home claims and 16,334 auto claims

• USAA Group reported having received 56,000 insurance claims, surpassing the 53,000 claims from Hurricane Ike in 2008, but has not issued a total dollar estimates

• Allstate Insurance Group estimated catastrophe losses for October will exceed $150 million

Additional details:

• 1,241 field inspectors have completed 64,649 home inspections

• 1,081 community relations specialists are positioned in affected communities, going door to door explaining the available disaster assistance and how to register

• 20 Points of Distribution (PODs) are open and providing supplies

• 8 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) and 1 Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) team from the Department of Health and Human Services are deployed in New York

• More than 2.4 million liters of water, 1.3 million meals and more than 210,000 blankets have been provided by FEMA to the New York National Guard for distribution

• 13 New York counties have been designated for both individual and public assistance: Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester

• The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 14 staffed business recovery centers in the New York area to provide help to business owners seeking disaster assistance

• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has removed 77,237 cubic yards of debris so far

As of November 15, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved more than $421 million to help individuals and families recover from the disaster, and more than 198,000 New Yorkers had contacted FEMA for information or registered for assistance. More than 100,000 applied through online application at www.disasterassistance.gov.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, as of 9 am EST today, there are 2,129 customers without power in New York state, down from 22,932 customer outages on Tuesday. In New Jersey, Jersey Central Power & Light reported that in the Barrier Islands and shoreline communities, 30,000 customers cannot be restored. Atlantic City Electric reported 5,000 customers are not able to receive power.