Tropical Storm Tomas has triggered a $12.8 million hurricane coverage insurance payout in four eastern Caribbean states, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) said.
The disaster pooling facility, launched several years ago with the support of the World Bank and other donors, will pay insurance losses to Barbados, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.
Preliminary calculations based on CCRIF’s modeled losses will see the facility pay out $8.5 million for Barbados, $3.2 million for Saint Lucia, and $1.1 million for St Vincent and the Grenadines.
“Under the terms of CCRIF policies, a final loss and payout calculation will be undertaken on 13 November, with the National Hurricane Centre data available at that time used as input to the loss models. Payouts will be made as soon thereafter as possible,” CCRIF said in a statement.
Tomas remains an active storm and could further impact CCRIF-covered countries, the facility said.
Tomas was downgraded to a tropical storm from a Category 1 hurricane, but the National Hurricane Center said it may regain strength early this week as it passes south of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where more than one million survivors of a Jan. 12 earthquake are living in sprawling tent camps.
As Tomas churned over the open Caribbean sea, officials appealed to Haitians in tent camps to start evacuating, encouraging them to travel to the homes of family or friends.
In January, CCRIF paid $8 million to Haiti after the devastating earthquake triggered the country’s earthquake coverage.
Source : Reuters
