Hurricane Gustav early damage assessments

It is the morning after Gustav’s landfall and the early assessments are favorable for New Orleans. It is clear that the hard-learned lessons from Katrina have resulted in a much better organized and funded initial preparedness plan. It is too early to really know what property damage was done to the areas to the west of New Orleans which received the highest winds associated with the center of the storm. Risk Management Solutions places early insured losses at $4 billion to $10 billion, not inclusive of flood claims. AIR Worldwide Corporation estimates losses at between $2 billion and $4.5 Billion, noting that Rita was more intense and did $5.6 billion in insured loss.