Calculating the cost of Hurricane Katrina

The insurance cover is predominantly held by householders and private business. There will clearly be extensive damage to government property but industry experts say it is not widely insured. They also say that the cost of damage to offshore oil installations is likely to be very high, perhaps the largest ever suffered by the industry. It is also especially difficult to estimate at this early stage. One expert said that these early figures are not hugely accurate. He also said there are often additional factors that can push up losses - for example, labour and building materials costs often rise because they are in such demand for reconstruction.

In addition there are uninsured losses - which could according to one insurance industry economist put total damage as high as fifty billion dollars.

Vocabulary:

rough and ready estimate : an estimate that is not precise or accurate

housing density: the number of houses in a particular area

the extent of insurance cover: how much insurance people have

policyholders: people who have insurance policies

predominantly: mainly, mostly

extensive: large

offshore oil installations: oil production facilities not on land but in the sea

not hugely accurate: not very accurate

push up: increase, make bigger

uninsured losses: losses for items that are not inusured and therefore will not be part of what the insurance companies have to pay