Private market insured losses from Francine do not exceed $2 billion

US private market insured losses from Hurricane Francine are estimated to not exceed $2 billion, Moody’s RMS Event Response team said.

Losses to the National Flood Insurance Program from the hurricane are estimated at less than $200 million, the credit rating agency added. Moody’s expects the majority of total NFIP insured and private market losses to occur in Louisiana and be caused by wind.

“We expect Hurricane Francine to be another manageable event for the (re)insurance market this hurricane season,” said Jeff Waters, director, North Atlantic Hurricane Models, Moody’s. “Fortunately, the storm encountered strong wind shear just before landfall, which limited its potential to strengthen and helped it weaken quickly after landfall.”

Waters said low tide conditions at the time of the landfall helped counteract the chance of a damaging storm surge.

Francine made landfall on September 11 as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour. The hurricane brought storm surges and heavy rain to coastal Louisiana, but New Orleans and Baton Rouge were largely spared the worst of the storm’s strong winds.

Hurricane Francine was the sixth named storm of the 2024 North Atlantic hurricane season and the third hurricane of this season to make landfall in the US.

Photo: Two vehicles on Olive Street are flooded during Hurricane Francine in New Orleans, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune via AP)

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