Insurers may take $18bln hit from Hurricane Ida - industry experts

Insurers are bracing for a hit of about $18 billion from Hurricane Ida in the United States and the Caribbean, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Wednesday.

KCC said $40 million worth of the insured loss will be in the Caribbean and the rest from wind and storm surge losses in the United States.

Hurricane Ida made landfall in the United States on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, after sweeping ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, flooding wide areas under heavy surf and torrential rains.

The forecast includes privately insured damage to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and automobiles and does not include boats, offshore properties or losses that come under the U.S. National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) ((noor.hussain@thomsonreuters.com; Within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; Outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2663 or +91 80 3796 2663 ;))