Insurers Prepare For Flood Of Claims From Irene NPR
On the boardwalk of Ocean City, Md., Tony Russo Jr. is boarding up the windows of his family's restaurant, Tony's Pizza.
"Been working 24 hours," he says. "Got 75 sheets of plywood, 10 different properties, all boarded up. Done."
Insurers like to see policyholders doing whatever they can to minimize property damage from hurricanes. In the case of Irene, there will undoubtedly be a lot.
"We're looking at a multibillion-dollar event; that's almost certain," says Bob Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, a trade association.
"We're not looking at a hurricane that is as strong as a Katrina or a Hurricane Ike," he says, "but we are looking at a storm that will move over an area that has much greater population than an area like New Orleans or South Texas."
Hartwig says that means damage to individual structures may not be as great, but there could be significant damage to millions more homes and businesses than in previous hurricanes.
