Privately insured losses in the U.S. from Hurricane Debby – the fourth named storm of the 2024 North Atlantic hurricane season and the third hurricane in the last decade to make landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region – will total nearly $1.4 billion, according to catastrophe risk modeler Karen Clark & ​​Company (KCC).

This estimate from KCC is based on the company’s high-resolution U.S. Hurricane Reference Model and assumes that approximately $845 million, or 60% of the total insured loss, will be from wind, $130 million from storm surge and $440 million from inland flooding.

KCC explains that its estimate includes privately insured losses to residential, commercial and industrial properties and automobiles, as well as business interruption, but not boats, offshore properties or National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) losses.

Debby initially made landfall in a sparsely populated area of ​​Florida as a Category 1 hurricane, but rapidly weakened after making landfall, limiting the extent of wind damage, according to KCC.

However, Debby moved slowly, causing extensive damage through strong winds, storm surges, and inland flooding in the eastern United States for nearly a week. In Cedar Key, Florida, storm surge reached heights of up to 6 feet (1.8 meters), and the storm’s slow progress produced significant rainfall, causing widespread inland flooding along the entire east coast.

After Hurricane Debby first made landfall in Florida on August 5, it reached South Carolina as a tropical storm on August 8.

This KCC estimate follows today’s estimate from Moody’s RMS Event Response, which put the losses to the U.S. private insurance market from Debby at as much as $1.5 billion, while losses from NFIP were less than $300 million.