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Hotel owners in Florida and the Caribbean islands are preparing for losses as the threat of Hurricane Irma bears down.
Hyatt Hotels Corp. faces the biggest property risk among hotel companies with 7% of its rooms in the impact area. REITs Sotherly Hotels Inc., Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc., Hersha Hospitality Trust, DiamondRock Hospitality Co. and RLJ Lodging Trust have an estimated 10% of their rooms in areas affected by the storm, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Irma has already wreaked havoc in Antigua, Barbuda and Puerto Rico with winds of 185 mph — the highest ever recorded for an Atlantic Ocean hurricane.
Earlier this week, shares of FTSE NAREIT Equity Lodging/Resort fell 2.3% while Hyatt shares dropped by 1.7%.
Mandatory evacuations in the Florida Keys have also led to hotels incurring losses due to canceled trips.
Hurricane Matthew forced a similar exodus in Florida last year and caused billions in damage.
Meanwhile, Texas is still reeling two weeks after Hurricane Harvey slammed into the state, hammering oil refineries and causing massive amounts of damage in Houston.
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