By Lilla Zuill

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Gustav, which came ashore southwest of New Orleans on Monday morning, is expected to trigger significant insurance claims but far less than record-setting Katrina did three years ago.

"This is a significant, catastrophic event but insurers anticipate these, and Gustav will be manageable from a financial perspective," said Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, an industry-funded nonprofit organization in New York.

Gustav, a dangerous Category 4 hurricane a few days ago, hit shore near Cocodrie, Louisiana, about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans late on Monday morning, as a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, one step below Katrina's strength when it made landfall.

EQECAT Inc, which helps insurers model catastrophe risk, said it estimated insurance losses from Hurricane Gustav, after it made landfall, will range from $6 billion to $10 billion, primarily in Louisiana.

Damage from Katrina to the port city of New Orleans and along the Gulf coast, including parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, triggered insurance claims in excess of $40 billion in 2005.

While New Orleans was buffeted by strong winds on Monday there were no immediate reports of breaches of the barriers that gave way three years ago, flooding 80 percent of the city and stranding thousands of people.

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