PARIS (Sputnik) — Hurricane Irma has caused an estimated $1.4 billion worth of damage to the islands of St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, the part of French overseas territories, as the state French insurer Caisse Centrale de Réassurance (CCR) said Saturday.
"CCR estimates that the total amount of insured losses related to this event will be about 1.2 billion euros [$1.4 billion]. This natural disaster loss, one of the costliest to affect France in 35 years," the insurance company said in a statement. According to CCR, this amount covers damages to homes, vehicles and companies, including operating losses, insured for natural disasters.
St. Martin, which has a population of nearly 77,000 people, was left in ruins after the hurricane.
The islands were hit on Wednesday, with storm then continuing toward Cuba and Florida. The hurricane Irma is one of the most severe ever recorded in the Atlantic basin and has already caused more than 20 deaths. Nonetheless, the US National Hurricane Center said the hurricane had weakened to a category 4 storm. But it is expected to regain its strength before slamming into Florida on Sunday.
