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Insured losses from Texas wildfires to top $100 million


September 7, 2011   by Canadian Underwriter


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Insured losses from Labour Day wildfires burning in Texas will surely top $100 million, according to the Insurance Council of Texas.
Over the Labour Day weekend, roughly 85 new fires were sparked in the state. Officials had hoped Tropical Storm Lee would bring some much-needed rain to the parched state, but instead the storm’s winds fanned earlier fires and helped start and spread the new ones, AIR Worldwide said in a release.
As of press time, four people have been killed and roughly 1,000 homes have been destroyed. AIR estimates the average replacement value (building only) of a single family home in Texas statewide is roughly $187,000.
The largest and most damaging fire occurred in Bastrop County (about 25 miles southeast of Austin) as it raced through rural subdivisions claiming nearly 500 homes and 25,000 acres of property covered in a thick layer of pine and cedar trees, the ICT said.
“The fire losses for 2011 are already the worst on record in Texas,” said Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the ICT. “These wildfires over the Labour Day weekend will only add to what has become a catastrophic year for Texas.”


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