Hurricane Idalia – Update 4

This is our fourth update on Hurricane Idalia.  This storm, though definitely breezy and wet, appeared to have reduced speed significantly as it made landfall.  The highest recorded wind gusts were in the 80mph range.  The coastal areas that were hit were primarily low-density (population and industry areas).

Initial figures estimate that losses from this hurricane will total around twenty billion dollars.

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Evacuations

Our tracking of the evacuations can be found in the Resources section on the right-hand side of this page.

Power Outages

Power outages in Florida and Georgia are lingering in the 125k range, from a peak of 469k and it is spread over many counties (92k in Florida and 34k in Georgia.  Our tracking of this information can be found in the Resources section on the right-hand side of this page.

Closures

Our tracking of the closure of airports, ports and theme parks can be found in the Resources section on the right-hand side of this page.

Affected Industries

We are expecting claims relating to hotels, department stores, fast food chains and similar risks impacted due to service interruption or flooding.

Business Interruption Coverage Issues

• Government assistance considerations
• Prevention of access – inability to access businesses due to the closure of roads
• Property damage to local businesses
• Public utilities – damage to providers of electricity, gas, sewage, and telecommunications
• Closure of premises by public authority – closure or evacuation of Insured premises
• Losses resulting from supply chain issues
• Early involvement of the appropriate experts can help with the need for any mitigation efforts.

MDD has considerable expertise in dealing with these types of claims and the complexities that may occur.  Experts like those of us at MDD will stress the need for proper audit protocols, controlling and sorting of costs and accounting for any potential saved expenses.