Moody’s Estimates U.S. Private Market Insured Losses for Debby Won’t Exceed $1.5B

Moody’s RMS Event Response estimates U.S. private market insured losses from Hurricane Debby won’t exceed $1.5 billion, which represents insured losses associated with wind, storm surge, and precipitation-induced flooding.

Moody’s also estimates losses to the National Flood Insurance Program from the event to be less than US$300 million.

Exposure informing the private market loss estimates was based on Moody’s RMS U.S. Hurricane and U.S. Private Flood industry exposure databases. Exposure for the NFIP loss estimate was based on Moody’s view of NFIP policy-in-force data published by FEMA.

Related: AccuWeather’s U.S. Preliminary Estimate of Damage and Economic Loss from Debby is $28B

Moody’s RMS Event Response validated wind, storm surge, and inland flood reconstructions and the loss estimate using public and privately available data, including wind station observations, river gauge water level data, web-based reconnaissance, aerial imagery analysis, and Moody’s data products.

Insured flood losses will be absorbed by the NFIP, especially along coastal portions of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, where take-up rates are higher, as well as the private market. However, Moody’s expects a sizable amount of uninsured flood losses from Debby, particularly in non-coastal areas where NFIP take-up is much lower.

Hurricane Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Steinhatchee, Florida on August 5. At landfall, Debby had maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour, bringing hurricane-force winds, damaging storm surge, and heavy rainfall to portions of Florida’s Big Bend region and Gulf Coast, according to Moody’s.

Related: Hurricane Debby’s Florida Claims Already Near 12,000

Coastal and interior areas of Georgia and the Carolinas experienced heavy rainfall with widespread inland flooding. After making a second landfall in the U.S. in South Carolina as a tropical storm on August 8, Debby moved northward and eventually became post-tropical. During this time, several Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states were impacted by precipitation-induced flooding and severe weather, including tornadoes, in some areas, according to Moody’s.