According to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), increased population development in hurricane-prone states, combined with increasingly severe rainfall that accompany these storms, has resulted in higher insurance claim payouts for wind and flood-caused property damage.
“While wind speeds and storm surge in coastal areas grab headlines, inland flooding is on the rise,” stated the just-released Triple-I Issues Brief, Hurricanes: State of the Risk. “In August 2021, Hurricane Ida brought strong winds and heavy flooding to the Louisiana coast before delivering so much water to the Northeast that Philadelphia and New York City saw flooded subway stations days after the storm passed. Ida also caused a surprising death toll thousands of miles from where the storm first made landfall.” Last year’s Hurricane Ian caused catastrophic flooding in central Florida after making landfall in southwest Florida as a Category 4 major hurricane.
Property damage resulting from a flood is covered under a flood insurance policy, which is typically separate from either a homeowners, condo owners, or a renters insurance policy. Flood policies are underwritten through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and private insurers.
Triple-I found the greatest dollar growth in the value of NFIP claim payouts over the past 20 years occurred in the following areas of the U.S.
- Texas coast and inland Louisiana
- Coastal northern Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas
- Inland northern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire
Property damage caused by windstorms is covered under standard homeowners and condo owners insurance policies. Renters insurance policies protect personal belongings against damage from windstorms. In the aftermath of hurricanes, U.S. homeowners, renters, auto, and business insurers cumulatively receive tens of thousands of claims.
“When adjusted for inflation, nine of the 10 costliest hurricanes in U.S. history have struck since 2005,” the Issues Brief continued. “This is due mainly to the fact that more people have been moving into harm’s way since the 1940s, and Census Bureau data show that homes being built are bigger and more expensive than before.”
The most significant population growth in the U.S. between 2011 and 2020 came in the following five states, in order, according to the Census Bureau: Texas (15.6%), Florida (13.5%), South Carolina (11.3%), North Carolina (10.3%), and Georgia (9.5%).