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Florence could cost insurers $6.3 billion

Insurers face up to $US4.6 billion ($6.3 billion) in losses from Hurricane Florence, which struck the US east coast earlier this month.

The loss estimate by catastrophe modeller AIR Worldwide is based on damage from Florence’s winds and storm surge, and excludes the impact of ongoing flooding in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Florence dumped heavy rainfall on the two states after making landfall in North Carolina more than a week ago as a Category 1 storm.

“Florence’s slow movement has ensured that its principal impact will be from the excessive precipitation being deposited over an extremely wide area,” AIR says.

“Flooding may worsen in many locations across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia as precipitation continues to fall on saturated ground and runoff drains slowly toward the coast.”

At least 44 people have died since the storm’s landfall.