Hurricane Erick insured impacts 'very limited', says BMS' Siffert

By Scott Vincent

June 20 - (The Insurer) - Insured losses from Hurricane Erick are likely to be very limited, BMS senior meteorologist Andrew Siffert has said, with the storm's worst impacts largely missing significant metropolitan areas.

Erick, the fifth named storm of this year's East Pacific hurricane season, was at Category 3 strength at the time of its landfall on Mexico's southern coast on Thursday.

Erick made landfall near the resort town Puerto Escondido at around 5:30 a.m. local time (1130 GMT). By mid-afternoon, it had weakened to a tropical storm as it moved inland, with sustained winds weakening to 50 mph (85 kph).

The storm had rapidly intensified in the 24 hours prior to its landfall, with wind speeds rising from 65 mph to 145 mph as it attained Category 4 strength before weakening slightly as it neared the Mexican coastline.

Erick is the earliest calendar-year major hurricane landfall in the East Pacific since modern records began.