New Orleans uninsured for $120 million in hurricane damage

Published: 2006-08-21

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Hurricane Katrina caused $225 million in wind and flood damage to churches, schools and other property owned by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes told priests at an Aug. 18 convocation. Of the $225 million, $145 million was caused by flooding and $80 million by wind. Although the $80 million in wind damage is covered by insurance -- except for a $500,000 deductible -- the archdiocese will receive only $25 million in flood insurance proceeds, leaving an uninsured flood loss of $120 million, the archbishop said. The $120 million loss has been mitigated somewhat by $45.5 million in grants and donations from various sources and an estimated $27 million in anticipated reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, putting the actual loss at about $48 million, the archbishop said. When an audit of the archdiocese's 2006 fiscal year, which ended June 30, is completed, the archdiocese expects to have a net operating loss between $7.5 million and $8 million, said chief financial officer John Eckholdt. He projects deficits over the next three years totaling another $14.5 million. "The situation we face is both encouraging and daunting," Archbishop Hughes said.

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