Early Lili estimates around $600 million: AIR update

An early update on Hurricane Lili’s impact on Louisiana suggests that losses with be in the billions. An alert from AIR Worldwide Corp. suggests that wind damage from the category 2 hurricane alone could reach US$600 million. The AIR tropical cyclone team had originally predicted losses of US$2 billion, but fortunately Lili weakened in force before making landfall south of Lafayett, Louisiana Thursday morning. Originally Lili was a category 4 hurricane that ravaged Mexico earlier in the week.Another factor contributing to lower losses is Lili’s location the storm touched down in a sparsely populated stretch of coast near Marsh Island, in the western part of Vermillion Bay.The storm is expected to weaken as it heads further inland, but AIR cautions that a worsening of the hurricane, or a change in direction, could lead to a higher loss tally. The estimate also does not include flood losses.