Hurricane Harvey: property insurers' shares fall
Shares of several top property and casualty insurance companies are down Monday morning amid investor concerns about widespread damage that Hurricane Harvey is causing in Houston, Texas.
Travelers and Progressive each saw their stocks drop more than 2% in early trading. Allstate, Fidelity National, Markel and Cincinnati Financial also experienced losses, according to FOX Business editor Charles Brady.
Parts of Texas’ Gulf Coast have seen record rainfall totals since Hurricane Harvey made landfall last Friday as a Category 4 storm. Heavy flooding and wind has caused widespread property damage, closed hundreds of roads and left tens of thousands of local residents in need of aid.
Total damage from Hurricane Harvey could equal that of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as the costliest storm in America’s history, with more than $10 billion in economic losses and more than $5 million in insured losses, according to early estimates from insurance broker BMS Group. The total doesn’t include coverage by the federally-funded National Flood Insurance Program, an expert from the broker told Reuters.
The NFIP covered more than $15 billion in flood insurance losses for Hurricane Katrina, Reuters reported.
At least five people have died and many others have been injured due to Hurricane Harvey. At present, it is unclear how many homes have been damaged or destroyed by the storm.