The devastating storm crashed through 4 states, leaving the most damage behind in Florida.
The insured Hurricane Michael losses could be as high as $8 billion, according to Karen Clark & Company. The Boston-based firm is an insurance company that creates catastrophe models.
The insured losses estimate includes the privately insured storm surge and wind property damage.
The Karen Clark & Company (KCC) insured Hurricane Michael loss estimates included those to residential, commercial and industrial properties as well as vehicles. The estimates include damage from wind and storm surge. That said, the estimate doesn’t include the losses covered under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), only privately insured losses.
Hurricane Michael first made landfall last Wednesday afternoon. It struck the state’s Mexico Beach as a Category 4 storm at 155 miles per hour. The storm crashed its way through the Florida Panhandle, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. By the time it entered Georgia, it was still a Category 3 storm and continued on its way.
KCC’s estimates showed that almost half the insured losses left behind by the hurricane occurred in the Bay and Gulf counties in Florida. The total storm surge damages are estimated to be $3.7 billion. Of that, about 10 percent is covered by insurance, said a report in Time.
CoreLogic’s estimates about the insured Hurricane Michael losses were notably lower.
That firm predicted that the estimates for wind and storm surge losses due to Hurricane Michael were likely closer to between $3 and $5 billion across all the states affected by the storm. That said, the same estimate stated that of those losses, $2.5 billion to $4 billion were from the damages in Florida.
“At this time, it is unlikely that inland flooding will be a major contributor to loss totals, but CoreLogic will continue to evaluate this as the storm unfolds,” said the firm in a news release.
That said, unlike the KCC estimates, the CoreLogic post-landfall insured Hurricane Michael losses did include those covered by NFIP. That said, as man of the Florida Panhandle 
residents are not yet able to make it back to their homes to gauge the destruction left behind to their properties and vehicles. Therefore, it remains too early for accurate estimates based on actual data.
