Hurricane Gustav could cost insurers up to $10 billion, according to early catastrophe loss estimates. The top damage estimates include losses from oil and gas production fields, which felt the brunt of Hurricane Gustav as a Category 3 storm, with sustained winds topping 115 miles-per-hour.

Reports indicate that the New Orleans levees that gave way during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 held this time, although waters from Late Pontchartrain did overlap the walls and some flooding was expected, and continued pressure on the levees could yet cause them to fail.

While insurers are beginning to assess the damage from Gustav, Hurricane Hanna is churning away in the Caribbean and heading toward the U.S. mainland. Hanna is threatening to strike the East coast anywhere from Florida to North Carolina.

The National Weather Service is also watching Tropical Storm Ike and Tropical Depression 10, which could become Tropical Storm Josephine.

September 3, 2008