The devastation wreaked by Hurricane Humberto could have been much worse if it has started in the open water further south in the Gulf of Mexico according to Claire Souch, senior director of model management at Risk Management Solutions (RMS).

The Category 1 storm struck Texas east of Galveston last night and Ms. Souch reckons the Gulf of Mexico is ripe for further hurricane activity.

"We are now in the peak of the hurricane season, and conditions in the Gulf of Mexico are ripe for more activity," she said.

"Attention so far has been on the open Atlantic because this is where hurricanes Dean and Felix formed, as well as the major storms of 2004 and 2005. Humberto demonstrates that the Gulf of Mexico is a major breeding ground for hurricanes that can materialize quickly."

She claimed that because Humberto developed near the Texan coast, it did not have the chance to gather momentum and reach major hurricane status.

"If the storm had formed further south in the Gulf, where waters are warmer and deeper, it would have had more time to intensify before striking land," she said.

"The current position of two active tropical systems means that we are likely to see more activity over the coming week, so residents near the coast should be aware of the risk and adequately prepared."

Ms, Souch compared Humberto to Tropical Storm Allison, which hit in a similar area in 2001, but does not believe it will cause as much damage.

"Humberto took a very similar track to Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, but slightly more to the northeast," she said.

"Although Humberto is expected to cause flooding from excessive rainfall, it's likely to be far less damaging than Allison which stalled over Houston and led to three days of intense rain."

RMS, which was founded at Stanford University almost 20 years ago, is one of the world's top products and services providers for the quantification and management of catastrophe risks.