Hurricane Erick losses will be ‘well below’ Otis: Best

A.M. Best Co. said Friday that insured losses from Hurricane Erick will be “well below” the $1.97 billion from Hurricane Otis in 2023.

Insured losses are forecast to be mainly for business interruption from prolonged power outages, flooding and food shortages.

Potential losses in the tourist city of Acapulco may reach $99.2 million due to “paralyzed” economic activity involving mass closure of more than 18,000 businesses, according to the Camara Nacional de Comercio, Servicios y Turismo (CANACO), the Mexican Chamber of Commerce, the Best report said..

Hurricane Erick intensified into a Category 4 storm on June 18, with sustained winds above 230 km/h (145 mph), before making landfall the next morning at Santiago Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, along Mexico’s Pacific coast, as a Category 3 storm.

Although Erick “quickly deteriorated” into a Category 1 storm, it brought sustained winds of approximately 140 km/h (87 mph) and heavy rainfall, flash floods, landslides and power outages affecting coastal cities and neighboring municipalities mainly in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. Heavy rainfall also reached Michoacan, Mexico City, Puebla, State of Mexico, Chiapas and Veracruz.