Insurers estimate Gustav claims as high as 10 bn

BEAUMONT: Residential and commercial insurance claims could total USD 4 billion to USD 10 billion. More than a million customers, including some refineries, lack electricity. And retailers are gearing up for a burst of sales once residents who fled the Gulf Coast return.

Snapshots of Hurricane Gustav's economic impact revealed yesterday that the storm was hardly as damaging as feared -- particularly for the region's vast network of energy facilities. But it will be days, if not weeks, before business as usual returns.

While Gustav's force paled in comparison to Hurricane Katrina, which cost insurers USD 41 billion, oil workers, utility crews, fishermen and other business owners fanned out across the Gulf Coast yesterday to assess damage and make preparations to restart operations.

Outside a Lowe's in Houma, Louisiana, 34-year-old sales manager Britt Coyle said there was only minor damage to the store, which he expected to be open today to sell chainsaws, generators and other necessities to residents returning home.

For the moment, there were no customers in sight, and power outages in the area were widespread.

At the nearby Jolly Inn restaurant, the owners had a diesel generator powering their refrigerator in order to prevent thousands of dollars worth of food from spoiling. Forty-five-year-old Denise Prosperie-Fritch, whose family owns the Jolly Inn and rode out Gustav inside the restaurant, said the establishment is insured but that they only have one or two days worth of diesel fuel left to keep the food cold.

"We will be addressing our hardest-hit policyholders first," Elizabeth Stelzer, a spokeswoman for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co, said. "Those homes with a tree through a wall, an exposed roof, or other claims in which the home has become uninhabitable are the priority."