Insured damage from Irene will range between $2 billion and $3 billion, and the total losses will likely be about $7 billion, according to preliminary estimates by Kinetic Analysis Corp. a consulting firm.

Both figures are less than had been feared, a bit of reassuring news for a fragile economy.

Still, the long-term costs of Irene will likely grow as storm-ravaged areas deal with lost business, insurance claims, dislocated workers and transportation disruptions _ costs that will take months to fully calculate.

The preliminary estimate from Kinetic Analysis, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, suggests that Irene will have caused far less insured damage than the $6 billion the industry paid out after Hurricane Isabel struck the East Coast in 2003.