STATE NEWS

Insurance industry 'dodged a bullet': Idalia losses estimated at $3B-$5B

Still, reinsurance firm BMS said in an analysis, 'This should be a warning call for what will happen when a major hurricane strikes the Tampa Bay area.'

By The News Service of Florida
| 11:00 a.m. September 1, 2023

Palm trees during a storm. Photo from Adobe Stock

State Government

Saying the insurance industry “dodged a bullet,” a reinsurance firm on Thursday, Sept. 31, estimated that Hurricane Idalia caused $3 billion to $5 billion in insured losses.

The firm, BMS, pointed to Idalia making landfall Wednesday in the Keaton Beach area of rural Taylor County before moving through other sparsely populated areas of North Florida.

“In reality, the insurance industry dodged a bullet as Idalia tracked over relatively rural areas with low population density,” an analysis posted on the BMS website said.

The update did not break down potential insured losses in Florida and other states. After moving through North Florida, Idalia went into Georgia and South Carolina.

While Idalia did not go through heavily populated areas, BMS said it showed potential far-reaching effects of future storms.

“The tidal flooding all the way down to Bradenton, FL reveals that the impacts from named storms can be far-reaching beyond the destructive center of the storm and the cone of uncertainty,” the analysis said. “This should be a warning call for what will happen when a major hurricane strikes the Tampa Bay area.”