Hurricane Irene's estimated cost to insurers fell to about $2.6 billion in the U.S. as the storm lost strength en route to New York, according to Kinetic Analysis Corp., a firm that predicts the effects of disasters.

That compares with a projection last week from the Silver Spring, Maryland-based company of as much as $14 billion. Total economic losses, including those that aren't insured, may be about $7 billion.

“Insurers may get off pretty easy,” Charles Watson, Kinetic's research and development director, said in a phone interview from Savannah, Georgia. “This one's not the straw that broke the camel's back.”

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