Terrorist Attack Early Loss Projections In Billions

Wednesday, September 12th, 2001 — Preliminary loss estimates for yesterday's terrorist attack on the World Trade Center buildings in New York are in the billions of dollars, according to the New York-based Insurance Information Institute.

"In terms of losses, we're seeing billions," said Loretta Worters, vice president of communications.

To put yesterday's events into perspective, Ms. Worters said the 1993 World Trade Center bombing incurred insured losses of $510 million. "That was just a small portion of the building," she said. "This could be the most costly catastrophe ever."

The most expensive disasters to date are the Northridge earthquake at $12 billion and Hurricane Andrew at $16 billion, she explained.