Swiss Re Estimates Hurricane Ida Industry Losses at Up to $30 Billion

Swiss Re has estimated total reinsured losses from Hurricane Ida at $28 billion to $30 billion, with its own losses estimated at approximately $750 million.

Hurricane IDA was the second-most intense hurricane on record to hit Louisiana, Swiss Re noted, and also caused extensive wind and flood damage across the Eastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.

Hurricane Ida made landfall on August 29, 2021, as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of more than 150 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. Swiss Re noted that Hurricane Ida caused wide-ranging power outages and severe infrastructure damage, particularly in Louisiana, before causing exceptional flash flooding and storm surges in the Northeastern United States.

Earlier, catastrophe modeling firm RMS estimated Hurricane Ida insured losses at $31 billion to $44 billion, while AIR Worldwide estimated losses from the storm at up to $30 billion. Hurricane Ida was the ninth named storm of the 2021 North Atlantic hurricane season, the fourth hurricane, and the fifth named storm to make landfall in the United States this season.

Swiss Re also updated its loss estimate for the July 2021 floods in Europe to approximately $520 million.