Florence May Cost Insurers Up to $20 Billion If History Repeats

Here’s some grim back-of-the-envelope math for insurers: Hurricane Florence may wreak $15 billion to $20 billion in covered losses from wind and coastal storm-surge, if the past is any guide, according to catastrophe modeler Risk Management Solutions.

That range is based on benchmarking two similar hurricanes from decades past -- Hazel in 1954 and Hugo in 1989 -- and translating their damage into present-day figures, according to Tom Sabbatelli, an event response manager at RMS. It doesn’t include the potential cost of inland flooding.