Commercial insurer FM Global said it has a team in Atlanta, including more than 30 claims adjusters who are helping companies prepare for the storm and are ready to deploy into the area after Florence hits.
The effects of storms can ripple throughout the economy, especially if some companies hit by the hurricane are crucial suppliers to other firms, said Gary Love, vice president of operations underwriting at FM Global.
“It’s easy to think about the roof blowing off, the windows being shattered, but there’s more subtle parts of business interruption,” Love said. “You may not be physically damaged but you now don’t have electricity, or you don’t have water or you don’t have gas, so you can’t operate.”
Bryan Wood, a meteorologist and storm-damage analyst for Assurant Inc., said that Florence will hamper businesses even after it degrades from hurricane status.
“You look at power outages after hurricanes, they can last for a week more,” Wood said. “The winds themselves will decay pretty quickly, it’s just that persisting rain that’s going to be pretty dangerous.”
John Kinney, chief claims officer at Hartford, said three-quarters of the small businesses hit by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 had to close their doors for at least a day, with the average duration being about seven days. Only 11 percent of those businesses endured structural damage.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.