Insurers Put Wilma Damage at $3 Billion
 Associated Press
| | Hurricane Wilma slammed into Cancun on October 21, 2005, filling hotel lobbies with shattered metal, marble, glass and muck and blowing away so much sea sand that hotel beaches were reduced to thin strips or precipitous drops into the ocean. |
Hurricane Wilma is the costliest storm in history, not only for Mexico, but for all of Latin America, with damages totaling nearly US$3 billion (euro2.4 billion), the director of the Mexican Insurance Association said Thursday.
Of the total, about US$1.8 billion (euro1.4 billion) were insured damages, Recaredo Arias told a news conference. Two days before Wilma's first anniversary, Arias said that the industry had paid 94 percent of insured-damage claims.
Those who have filed insurance claims include hotels, restaurants, banks, hospitals, schools, and homeowners, Arias said.
Hurricane Wilma slammed into Cancun on October 21, 2005, filling hotel lobbies with shattered metal, marble, glass and muck and blowing away so much sea sand that hotel beaches were reduced to thin strips or precipitous drops into the ocean.
Arias said Wilma's damage was equal to that caused by the six most costly natural disasters in Mexican history, including a 1985 earthquake that leveled parts of Mexico City, and five hurricanes.
Hurricane Gilberto, which wrought havoc along the Mexican Gulf coast in 1988, was considered the costliest natural disaster with damages of about US$460 million. |
Vallarta Weddings
Business News | October 2006 
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