Isidore wreaks US$100 million damage on Louisiana (October 01, 2002)

Insurers in Louisiana will be paying out US$100 million in the wake of Tropical Storm Isidore, according to the state’s insurance regulator.

Acting insurance commissioner Robert Wooley says the storm, which hit largely in the south part of the state, caused US$50 million in auto insurance losses alone. Homeowners losses total US$25 million, according to preliminary estimates, with commercial losses making up the remaining US$25 million. However, these figures include flood claims through the government-sponsored National Flood Insurance Program, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The damage is perhaps less than what might have been expected, given that Isidore was downgraded to the status of a tropical storm. “Isidore was once a category 3 hurricane that, thankfully, never really reorganized once it swept into the Gulf of Mexico,” says Wooley.

Isidore is expected to cost Mexican insurers at least US$200 million (2 billion pesos), according to the Southeastern Mexican Insurers Association. Several people, including fisherman, were killed, while hundreds of thousands of others were affected by the shutdown of electricity and gas stations, amongst other property damage.