Hurricane Ian to cost US insurers $63bn in claims

Bloomberg

Hurricane Ian will cost private US insurers $63 billion in claims and will cause the largest storm-related losses
in Florida’s history, according to an estimate from a risk modeling firm.
The forecast includes losses to residential, commercial and industrial properties as well as automobiles, Karen Clark & Co. said in a report. Previous estimates cited by industry analysts put damages around $30 billion to $40 billion.
Ian made landfall and tore across Florida, bringing with it powerful gales and a wall of water that inundated parts of the state. It pummeled South Carolina with violent wind and a deadly storm surge on its way up the East Coast.
“In nominal dollars, Hurricane Ian will be the largest hurricane loss in Florida history,” Karen Clark wrote in its report. “The total economic damage will be well over $100 billion, including uninsured properties, damage to infrastructure, and other cleanup and recovery costs.”

Farmers face ‘widespread destruction’ of crops
Florida’s farmers and ranchers are facing “widespread destruction” of their crops from Hurricane Ian, according to the state’s farm bureau.
The region’s farmers are still assessing the damage, but it has become clear that, in areas of Florida’s citrus belt, “there has been significant fruit dropped from the trees,” the Florida Farm Bureau said by email. “Fall vegetables once rooted are now lost.”
Livestock and dairy farms have been “devastated,” the bureau said, and families in the region are facing weeks of rebuilding while still without power.
Meanwhile, masses of honey bee colonies — critical to pollinating Florida’s plants and crops — were submerged in water and are now in distress, the bureau said.