Hurricane

Defined as tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds greater than 74 mph, hurricanes are among the most destructive storms in nature and the most expensive to insure. Powerful winds define a hurricane and pose a major threat to people and property during a storm. Hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or more can destroy buildings, create dangerous rip currents, and even produce tornados. Torrential rainfall during a hurricane can also cause flooding that can last for several days after a storm.

However, severe flooding in the form of storm surges and storm tides have the most potential to damage buildings, cripple infrastructure, and disrupt local ecosystems during a hurricane. Storm surges are rises in water level caused by a storm’s winds, while the term storm tide refers to the water level rise caused by a combination of the storm surge and the astronomical tide. Storm surges can swell to heights of over 20 feet, affect hundreds of miles of coastline, and travel several miles inland. Storm surges and storm tides are also the biggest cause of death during hurricanes, as most hurricane-caused deaths occur from drowning.

Hurricane-related insurance issues are complicated and expensive, challenging insurers in multiple ways. Damages can reach astronomical levels, new laws about insurance meant to address immediate problems may be rushed through state legislatures, governmental characterization of the nature of a storm can affect insurance coverage in unexpected ways, coverage litigation is likely to follow storms, and the science of forecasting changes constantly.

Background

Defined as tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds greater than 74 mph, hurricanes are among the most destructive storms in nature and the most expensive to insure. Powerful winds define a hurricane and pose a major threat to people and property during a storm. Hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or more can destroy buildings, create dangerous rip currents, and even produce tornados. Torrential rainfall during a hurricane can also cause flooding that can last for several days after a storm.

However, severe flooding in the form of storm surges and storm tides have the most potential to damage buildings, cripple infrastructure, and disrupt local ecosystems during a hurricane. Storm surges are rises in water level caused by a storm’s winds, while the term storm tide refers to the water level rise caused by a combination of the storm surge and the astronomical tide. Storm surges can swell to heights of over 20 feet, affect hundreds of miles of coastline, and travel several miles inland. Storm surges and storm tides are also the biggest killer during hurricanes, as most hurricane-caused deaths occur from drowning.

Hurricanes can happen anytime of the year, but 97% of tropical activity in the Atlantic occurs during the six months of hurricane season from June 1 to November 30. Hurricanes are most likely to form when there is “a pre-existing weather disturbance, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and relatively light winds”. According to analysis of data from 1851 to 2015 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), September is the most common month for hurricane landfall in the United States. During this same period, no hurricane made landfall before June or after November. This happens when the difference between the temperature of the air and the ocean is at its greatest point. As long as a storm remains over warm waters or in areas with similar wind speeds at all altitudes, it will potentially grow to hurricane status in size and wind speed as it takes moisture from the warm ocean surface, but once it reaches land or moves to colder waters, the storm will gradually disperse. It is important to note that the definitional difference between hurricanes and typhoons is geographic. Storms that develop east of the International Dateline are described as hurricanes, while storms that develop west of the International Dateline are called typhoons.

According to data from the Hurricane Research Division of the NOAA these 5 cities are most vulnerable to hurricanes:
1. Miami, FL
2. Key West, FL
3. Cape Hatteras, NC
4. Tampa, FL
5. New Orleans, LA

The International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University lists these 10 areas of the country as the most vulnerable:
1. New Orleans, LA
2. Lake Okeechobee, FL
3. Florida Keys
4. Coastal Mississippi
5. Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, FL
6. Galveston/Houston, TX
7. Cape Hatteras, NC
8. Eastern Long Island, NY
9. Wilmington, NC
10. Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL

Atlantic Hurricanes and the United States
The Atlantic Ocean hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th on an annual basis. The peak for the season is typically August through October, although it varies year to year. The East Coast of the U.S. mainland, on average, has two hurricane strikes a year. Although hurricane season is officially from June to November, hurricanes occasionally occur in the off season. Despite this possibility, 97% of Atlantic storms happen in season. The exceptions most often occur in May or December. Since the Gulf Coast connects to the Atlantic Ocean, it shares the same hurricane season as the eastern coast. The most intense hurricane to ever hit the eastern part of the United States is Hurricane Wilma, in 2005. Wilma had speeds of up to 165 mph, the most intense hurricane on record. However, Wilma was not the deadliest. This distinction falls to the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed 8,000 – 12,000 people and caused $20 million ($700 million, adjusted for inflation) in damages.

Hurricanes and Hawaii
Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hurricanes are more likely to make landfall on Hawaii than they are on the West Coast of the United States, but are still extremely rare. The first recognized hurricane to hit the Hawaiian Islands was Hiki in 1950. Since then, only six storms have impacted the island chain, Nina (1957), Dot (1959), Estelle (1986), Iwa (1982), Iniki (1992), and Darby (2016). Iniki was the most dangerous of the group, with 6 reported deaths.

Pacific Hurricanes and the United States
The Eastern North Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th to November 30th. The season typically peaks in late August and early September. However, it is rare for these hurricanes to make landfall on the western coast of the United States. Hurricanes, in either ocean, tend to move on a west-northwest track which, in the Pacific, takes them away from the western seaboard. Additionally, the ocean surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean is usually colder, in the low 70 degrees Fahrenheit, than the Atlantic Ocean, which is typically above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. These colder temperatures do not produce thermal energy in enough abundance to sustain a strong enough hurricane needed to make landfall. Thus, if a northeastern Pacific hurricane were to backtrack on the typical Pacific path, the colder temperatures normally cause it to dissipate or be reduced in strength, rendering it harmless. Hurricanes do strike more frequently south of the US border in Mexico and other Central and South American counties. The strongest hurricane to strike California was the 1858 Hurricane which struck San Diego, the only known hurricane to produce hurricane-force winds which impacted California.

Injuries and Damages

The destructive potential of a hurricane depends on its intensity and its path. The Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale used by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) uses wind speeds and atmospheric pressure to classify hurricanes on a scale from Category 1 to Category 5. Category 3 or above are designated as major hurricanes. Category 1 hurricanes have sustained wind speeds of 74-95 mph and can cause damage to roofs, topple small trees, snap branches, and cause damage to power lines and poles resulting in power outages that can last up to several days. Category 2 hurricanes have wind speeds of 96-110 mph. The damage from these storms can cause major roof and siding damage to homes, snap small trees, block roads, and cause near total power loss for up to several weeks. Category 3 hurricanes are the first major hurricanes and have winds from 111-129 mph. Well built homes will incur major damage, including the loss of roofs, trees of all sizes will routinely be snapped, blocking roads, and electricity and water are usually unavailable for weeks after the storm ends. Category 4 hurricanes have winds which reach 130-156 mph. Even well-built homes often lose their basic structure and some exterior walls, most trees are uprooted, power poles are downed, fallen trees and poles isolate residential areas, and power outages last for weeks, sometimes even months, causing the area to be uninhabitable for months. The highest category, 5, has winds at 157 mph or higher. Many, if not most, homes will be destroyed. Many more homes will have their roofs ripped off or exterior walls destroyed. Residential areas will be isolated due to fallen trees, power poles and other objects. Power outages will last months, rendering the area uninhabited for months. Despite its widespread use, some have criticized the Saffir-Simpson scale for ignoring criteria such as storm size, which impacts storm surge, when determining a hurricane’s category.

In addition to a hurricane’s intensity, the path of the storm also determines a storm’s destructive potential. For this reason, most hurricanes cause little damage because they never make landfall. However, along these same lines, even tropical storms not classified as hurricanes can cause significant damage if they make landfall near a major city. Strong hurricanes that reach the coast are rare events, but can leave massive destruction in their wake, with eight separate storms having caused damage in the double-digit billion-dollar range.

Hurricanes remain one of the deadliest natural disasters and caused 412,644 deaths and 290,654 injuries between 1980-2009. The number of injuries is likely to be an underestimate, as injuries are often not reported. Less than 2% of hurricanes during this time-period caused over 1,000 deaths. The average number of deaths per hurricane decreased in each decade, demonstrating an increased ability to forecast and prepare for hurricanes. Despite this, “human vulnerability to cyclones will increase in future years due to population growth, urbanization, increased coastal settlement, poverty, and changing weather patterns” (The Human Impact of Tropical Cyclones). A total of 466.1 million people were affected by hurricanes during the same time period. Drowning is the most common cause of death.

The damage caused by hurricanes is limited to coastal cities and towns but can still be widespread and lasting. As a storm approaches the coast, sea levels are routinely raised 20 or 30 feet. This rising water, called storm surge, is typically the greatest threat to life and property during a hurricane. Coastal property, including buildings, docks, and roads, along with the beaches themselves are often demolished. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005 storm surge was responsible, directly and indirectly, for 1,500 deaths. In addition to the threat to human lives, over half of the United States’ economic productivity is located in coastal zones.

Local and State governments also routinely suffer from the consequences of hurricanes. Tax revenues decrease due to areas often becoming inhabitable for months. When combined with increased expenditures designed to help with disaster recovery, local and state governments can be left with a gaping hole in their finances. Insured damages incurred from hurricanes are often less than the total economic losses.

Adjusted for inflation, the Insurance Information Institute lists these ten hurricanes as causing the most insured losses (as of August 24, 2017):
1. $125 billion – Miami Hurricane, September 18, 1926
2. $57 billion – Hurricane Andrew, August 24, 1992
3. $53 billion – Fort Lauderdale Hurricane, September 17, 1947
4. $51 billion – Great Okeechobee Hurricane, September 17, 1928
5. $45 billion – Hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2005
6. $45 billion – Hurricane Betsy, September 9, 1965
7. $41 billion – Galveston Hurricane, September 9, 1900
8. $35 billion – Hurricane Donna, September 10, 1960
9. $33 billion – The Great New England Hurricane, September 21, 1938
10. $23 billion – Hurricane Easy, September 15, 1950

Legislation and Regulation

Typical property insurance policies do not cover hurricane related flooding. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was created in 1968 by Congress to help reduce the impact of flooding on private and public structures.

Federal
The NFIP has three components:

1. To provide flood insurance: the NFIP provides a means for property owners to financially protect themselves against floods, hurricanes, tropical storms, and heavy rains by offering flood insurance to homeowners, renters, and business owners if their community participates in the NFIP. These participating communities agree to adopt and enforce ordinances that meet or exceed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) requirements to reduce the risk of flooding.
2. To improve floodplain management: this refers to all actions that states and communities can take to reduce flood damage to both new and existing buildings and infrastructure. Communities incorporate NFIP requirements into their zoning codes, subdivision ordinance, and building codes, or they adopt special purpose floodplain management ordinances. Some requirements include:
   a. Elevation of new and substantially improved residential structures above the base flood level
   b. Elevation or dry floodproofing (made watertight) of new or substantially improved non-residential structures
   c. Regulation of development in floodways
3. To develop maps of flood hazard zones. To help communities understand their risk, FEMA creates Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) to distinguish between areas of high, moderate-to-low, and undetermined risk. In high-risk areas, there is at least a one in four chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage.

The FEMA flood maps have great potential to protect homeowners and business owners against large losses due to flooding, but there has been speculation that these maps are not entirely accurate. Incorrectly identified flood hazard zones increase flood insurance premium rates unnecessarily, taking a toll on residents’ finances, the real estate market, and the local economy.

On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed into law a five-year comprehensive reform of the National Flood Insurance Program, “The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.” It contained the following reforms:

1. Expressly provides authority for the NFIP to secure reinsurance coverage from the private market at rates and terms determined by the Administrator to be reasonable and appropriate in an amount sufficient to maintain the ability of the program to pay claims.
2. Requires a reinsurance assessment report to Congress not later than 12 months after the date of enactment. As part of the assessment the NFIP must:
   a. Assess the capacity of the private reinsurance, capital and financial markets by requesting proposals from the private sector to assume a portion of the insurance risk from the NFIP;
   b. Describe the extent to which the reinsurance proposals would minimize the likelihood that FEMA would need to use its borrowing authority;
   c. Describe fluctuations in historical reinsurance rates;
   d. Include an economic cost-benefit analysis of the impact on the NFIP if the Administrator were to exercise its authority and purchase reinsurance
3. Requires the NFIP to develop a protocol for release of the NFIP data to assist in this assessment.
4. Require the NFIP to conduct an annual assessment of its claims paying capacity, including the role private reinsurance could play, not later than September 30 of each year.
   
   

On March 21, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014. In response to Biggert-Waters, this bill made additional changes to the NFIP in addition to repealing and modifying portions of Biggert-Waters. It primarily contained the following:

1. Lowered rate increases on some policies, prevented future rate increases, and implemented a surcharge on all policyholders
2. Repealed certain rate increases under Biggert-Waters and provided refunds
3. Authorized additional resources for the National Academy of Science to complete a study on the affordability of flood insurance

Although insurance is often used to combat the potential losses of a hurricane, when they do strike not everyone is prepared. The Stafford Act, an amended version of the Disaster Relief Act of 1974, was passed in 1988 and is designed to help after disasters. It was amended in 2000 by the Disaster Mitigation Act and again in 2006 by the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act. Stafford gave the power of coordinating government-wide relief efforts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following a presidential disaster or emergency declaration. In the event of a hurricane, immediate disaster assistance and funds would be available under the Stafford Act and FEMA. Assistance is also provided to state and local governments, often in the form of food, clothing, shelter, and recovery loans. Federal agencies can also provide technical assistance to states by helping them prepare for earthquakes through grants. States and local governments are responsible for 25% of the costs under the Stafford Act.

State & Local
One of the most important ways in which the States ensure they are ready for potential hurricanes are building codes. These codes are regulations which say what is allowed in the design, construction, alteration and, maintenance of buildings. Most states and local jurisdictions adopt the building codes maintained by the International Code Council (ICC). The ICC issues three main building codes:

The International Building Code (IBC) – for new buildings
The International Residential Code (IRC) – for new residences
The International Existing Building Code (IEBC) – for maintenance and updates

Several provisions within these codes are designed to handle wind and flood hazards. The ICC keeps a list of which codes each state has currently adopted.

Alabama Deductibles
State law mandates that insurers offer discounts to policyholders who strengthen their homes against wind damage. The Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association (Beach Plan) provides a wind and hail only policy for homes, condominiums, mobile homes and commercial businesses located in the Beach, Seacoast and Gulf Front territories of Baldwin and Mobile Counties. The plan offers discounts on policies covering residential dwellings built to, or retrofitted to fortified wind resistive standards, as certified by the IBHS.

Connecticut Deductibles
The trigger for hurricane deductibles, or the point at which they apply, is by law when the National Weather Service (NWS) declares a hurricane that records winds of 74 miles per hour or more anywhere in Connecticut. The hurricane deductible is in effect until 24 hours following termination of the last hurricane warning issued for any part of Connecticut by the NWS; or 24 hours after the hurricane is downgraded from a hurricane by the NWS for any part of Connecticut. The insurance department allows companies to apply an actuarially justified hurricane deductible based on a property’s distance from the ocean. The insurance department has guidelines for shutter mitigation requirements and details.

The Connecticut FAIR Plan insures homeowners who have not been able to find coverage elsewhere. Dwellings located within 2,600 feet of the shoreline will have two deductibles—one deductible for named perils and a separate hurricane deductible of 5 percent.

The Coastal Market Assistance Program (C-MAP) assists homeowners living in Connecticut coastal areas who have been unable to obtain insurance.

Delaware Deductibles
Insurance Placement Facility of Delaware: The facility insures homeowners who have not been able to find coverage elsewhere for windstorm and hail damage. The FAIR Plan uses a $2,000 hurricane deductible that is mandatory in certain zip codes along the coast and optional in other zip codes. The deductible is triggered when the National Hurricane Center of the National Weather Service declares a hurricane watch or warning for any part of the state and ends 72 hours after the National Weather Service terminates the last hurricane watch or warning for any part of the state.

District of Columbia Deductibles
The District of Columbia Property Insurance Facility (FAIR Plan) insures homeowners who have not been able to find coverage elsewhere.

Florida Deductibles
Florida is the only state that has created a reinsurance catastrophe fund in the United States. The state-run Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) was formed in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew hit the state in 1992. Annually, the FHCF sells more reinsurance than the amount of its accumulated funds.

In the event of a loss exceeding its available funds, the FHCF is authorized to issue bonds backed by its ability to assess (tax) property and casualty insurance policyholders to repay the bonds. Through this post-loss taxation, the FHCF essentially makes consumers the reinsurers of Florida’s property insurers.

The fund’s solvency was not materially tested until the eight storms of 2004 and 2005. At that time, despite more than a decade to build up its financing, the FHCF exhausted its surplus funds. The FHCF has never purchased reinsurance or capital market reinsurance equivalents. Because of concerns that it did not have enough money to pay claims before it was able to access bond funding, in 2006 the FHCF issued pre-event bonds to additional cash on hand.

In 2007 in response to consumer complaints about the cost of homeowners insurance, the legislature greatly expanded the FHCF solely to reduce consumer rates. The FHCF was required to offer insurers an additional $12 billion of reinsurance at below market prices. This additional coverage was called the “temporary increase in coverage limit” (TICL layer.)

The ability of the FHCF to obtain funding to pay for its TICL layer contractual obligations was never assured. During the 2008 legislative session, some state leaders began expressing concerns about the impact of potential FHCF surcharges on Florida consumers.

OrlandoSentinel.com, “Florida Lawmakers, Worried About the Cost of a Monster Storm, are Rethinking Backup Coverage,” February 9, 2008:

[Chief Financial Officer] Sink’s office told the House Insurance Committee Friday that surcharges after a mega-storm could cost every insured homeowner anywhere from $11,000 to $18,000 over 30 years. Policies insuring autos and boats would be surcharged as well. That doesn’t include additional assessments the state-run Citizen’s Property Insurance Co., Florida’s largest home insurer, would have to levy to pay claims.

Due to the size of its potential bond offering and events in the bond markets, beginning in late 2008 and into 2009 the FHCF advisors reported that the catastrophe fund would not be able to borrow sufficient funds if needed to satisfy the full amount of its contractual obligations – a potential shortfall of $14 to $18 billion.

Since that time, the size of potential shortfalls has reduced, and the FHCF can now fund its first storm. Concerns remain for the second storm. On a number of occasions since 2009, the FHCF has determined that it would not have been able to borrow sufficient funds if needed. The most notable reason cited by the FHCF is the volatility in the bond markets. Due in part to both general economic concerns and the collapse of the municipal bond guarantee market, the bond market conditions have caused the FHCF to question its ability to meet its obligations in full or timely.

Even if the FHCF is able to borrow enough money to meet its contractual obligations, the borrowed money will have to be repaid and all Florida policyholders, including those not benefiting from the FHCF coverage such as commercial, charitable, and auto policyholders, will be taxed to repay the bonds that will be needed to satisfy the desire to set homeowners rates politically, instead of basing them on risk.

Hurricane deductibles and their triggers are set by law and are the same for the private, or regular market, as well as Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (CPIC), the state-run program which provides property insurance to consumers. The hurricane deductible applies only once during a hurricane season. All insurers must offer a hurricane deductible of $500, 2 percent, 5 percent and 10 percent of the policy dwelling or structure limits. The percentages are based on the total value of the home. By Florida law, property insurance rate filings must include mitigation discounts or credits. These are applied to property insurance premiums. These discounts are available for personal and commercial residential property only. See Florida Office of Insurance Regulation for details.

The CPIC (Citizens), Florida's state-run insurer of last resort will insure new homeowners in high-risk areas and others who cannot find coverage in the open private market. Under Florida law, Citizens may write a new insurance policy only if no comparable private market coverage is available or comparable private market policy premiums are more than 15 percent higher than a comparable Citizens policy.

The Florida Market Assistance Program is a free referral service designed to match consumers who cannot find property insurance with Florida-licensed agents and insurers who are writing new business.

Georgia Deductibles
The Georgia Insurance Underwriting Association (FAIR Plan) insures those who have not been able to find coverage elsewhere for windstorm and hail damage only for homes and businesses on the offshore islands and in certain counties, and wind and hail and other perils in the remainder of the state.

Hawaii Deductibles
Most homeowner insurers provide property coverage for all perils and liability but exclude hurricane insurance. Homeowners must purchase hurricane insurance separately from specialized companies. Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Insurance Division.

Louisiana Deductibles
There are three deductibles for homeowner policies related to wind damage: hurricane, named storm, and windstorm and hail. Named storm deductibles are activated when the National Hurricane Center reports that a storm reached tropical storm strength when winds reach 39 miles per hour (mph). Hurricane deductibles are activated when the National Hurricane Center reports that a tropical storm reached hurricane strength, at 74 mph. Windstorm and hail deductibles are used when homes sustain damage from winds from any source: hurricanes and tropical storms, tornadoes, or other storms.

Insurers generally cannot increase the named storm or hurricane deductible on homeowner insurance policies that have been in effect for more than three years. Insurers cannot impose more than one named storm or hurricane deductible per hurricane season.

State regulations mandate that homeowners may be eligible for premium discounts if they build or retrofit their home to comply with the state’s construction code or install mitigation or retrofitting improvements that are known to reduce loss from a windstorm or hurricane.

The Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation provides insurance for residential and commercial property for those who cannot obtain it in the voluntary market. The Louisiana Citizens FAIR Plan and the Louisiana Citizens Coastal Plan operate as programs of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Both offer wind and hail only policies.

Maine Deductibles
According to the Maine Bureau of Insurance, a hurricane deductible may be applied only during the period that starts when the National Weather Service issues a hurricane warning for a forecast zone that includes any part of the municipality in which the insured property is located and ends 24 hours after the National Weather Service terminates the last hurricane warning for that forecast zone.

Maryland Deductibles
Maryland law allows a hurricane deductible to be applied to the entire state if there is a hurricane warning in any part of the state. Hurricane or other windstorm deductibles can exceed 5 percent of the coverage limit without the approval of the Maryland Insurance Administration. The insurer must file any underwriting standard that contains a deductible over 5 percent. Insurers are required by law to offer a premium discount to homeowners who submit proof to their insurer that they have made qualified mitigation repairs or improvements that materially mitigate loss from wind and have had these improvements inspected by a licensed contractor. The improvements are subject to inspection and verification by the insurer.

The Maryland Joint Insurance Association insures homeowners and businesses who have not been able to find coverage elsewhere. Seasonal property and mobile homes are not eligible. Windstorm or hail deductibles apply to property within 200 feet of water.

Massachusetts Deductibles
The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association (FAIR Plan) insures properties where the homeowner or business has not been able to find coverage elsewhere. The plan uses a windstorm/hail deductible for any type of wind damage.

Mississippi Deductibles
In Mississippi, percentage storm deductibles can be named storm deductibles or hurricane deductibles. In both cases the deductible applies beginning when a named storm or hurricane watch or warning is issued anywhere in the state by the National Hurricane Center of the National Weather Service and ending 24 hours after the last-named storm or hurricane watch or warning is issued for any part of the state. Insurers that use named storm or hurricane deductibles must clearly state on the homeowner policy the timing for the deductible and offer a practical example of how the deductible works.

Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association (MWUA, Wind Pool): MWUA provides windstorm and hail coverage only in the coastal counties of George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone.

Mississippi Residential Property Insurance Underwriting Association (MRPIUA): Insures owners of one- and two-family dwellings in the state who have not been able to find coverage elsewhere for windstorm, hail and fire and extended coverage.

New Jersey Deductibles
In New Jersey, hurricane deductibles approved by the Department of Banking and Insurance apply to losses from a storm designated a hurricane by the National Weather Service (NWS) but only if sustained wind speeds of 74 mph have been measured somewhere in the state. According to the Department of Banking and Insurance, the duration of a hurricane includes the time period beginning 12 hours prior to the first time sustained hurricane force winds of 74 miles per hour or greater are measured in New Jersey by the NWS (regardless of whether the sustained hurricane force winds reach the risk insured under the policy) continuing for the time period during which hurricane conditions exist anywhere in New Jersey and ending 12 hours after the last time hurricane force winds of 74 miles per hour or greater are measured in the state by the NWS.

The New Jersey Insurance Underwriting Association (FAIR Plan): Insures one- to four-family homes where the owner has not been able to find coverage elsewhere. Coverage is limited, but perils include wind. In certain coastal areas, a special hurricane deductible may apply. Hurricane deductibles apply to losses from a storm designated a hurricane by the National Weather Service, with sustained winds speeds of 74 mph anywhere in the state, beginning 12 hours before the 74 mph winds begin and ending 12 hours after the last measurement of 74 mph winds is made. Homes that have certain wind-resistant features are eligible for a hurricane deductible reduction if they are properly documented.

New York Deductibles
According to the New York State Insurance Department, the mandatory deductibles which are shown on the policy’s declarations page commonly range from 1 percent to 5 percent of the insured amount. The event which triggers the deductible varies among insurers. Some use a category 1 as the trigger, while others use category 2. In any event, the hurricane would have to be designated by either the National Weather Service or the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane deductibles by company can be viewed on the New York State Department of Financial Services Website.
Insurers are required by law to offer discounts to any homeowner who has installed hurricane/storm shutters or hurricane-resistant laminated glass windows and doors.

The New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association (FAIR Plan) insures residential and commercial properties in the state where the homeowner cannot find coverage elsewhere. "Extended coverage" includes windstorm coverage. The Coastal Market Assistance Plan (C-MAP) assists policyholders living on the south shore of Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island’s forks that are within 1 mile of the shore and property on the north shore of Long Island, in the Bronx and Westchester within 2,500 feet of the shore locate an insurer willing to provide homeowners coverage.

North Carolina Deductibles
The North Carolina Joint Underwriting Association (FAIR Plan) insures residential and commercial properties statewide where the homeowner has not been able to find property coverage elsewhere. The Coastal Property Insurance Pool (CPIP) offers commercial, homeowner and dwelling windstorm coverage and homeowner coverage in the 18 eligible coastal counties of North Carolina.

Pennsylvania Deductibles
According to the Department of Insurance, some homeowner insurance policies for properties located in the state have special hurricane, tropical storm or named storm deductibles based on a percentage of a property’s insured value. These deductibles typically range from 1 percent of a home’s insured value to 5 percent.

The Pennsylvania FAIR Plan, formally known as the Insurance Placement Facility of Pennsylvania, makes basic property insurance available to persons who have been unable to secure such insurance from the voluntary insurance market. Windstorm coverage is available from the Facility under Extended Property Insurance Coverage.

Rhode Island Deductibles
Insurers in Rhode Island may apply a hurricane deductible on homeowner policies of no more than 5 percent of a home’s insured value. Windstorm deductibles may not be used. (Windstorm deductibles apply to damage from any kind of wind, not solely from hurricanes.) Insurers may offer a flat dollar deductible instead of or in addition to a percentage deductible but the total deductible may not exceed 5 percent of the insured value of the property. Premium credits, or discounts, must be provided if policies have hurricane deductibles. The deductible will only be in effect when the National Weather Service issues a hurricane warning for the applicable parts of Rhode Island and will remain in effect for 24 hours after the last warning.

According to the Department of Insurance, for Block Island, a loss is due to a hurricane when there are hurricane force sustained winds as defined by the National Weather Service. For the remainder of the state, a loss is due to a hurricane when there are hurricane force sustained winds anywhere in the state other than Block Island, as reported by the National Weather Service. If a policyholder experiences a loss from more than one hurricane in a calendar year, the insurer can apply the hurricane deductible only once. Insurers are required to post a notice containing all details pertaining to hurricane deductibles on the homeowner policy, including at least two practical examples of how they work.

Mitigation: Insurers can require mitigation measures only in certain specified zones and must waive the hurricane deductible if the policyholder implements approved mitigation measures. See Rhode Island Department of Insurance regulations.

Rhode Island Joint Reinsurance Association: Insures homeowners and commercial property owners who have not been able to find coverage in the voluntary market. Hurricane deductibles are mandatory and deductibles may not exceed 5 percent and will vary by territory and by the Rhode Island Building Code Wind Zone. Mitigation measures will eliminate or reduce the hurricane deductibles and will also provide for premium relief.

South Carolina Deductibles
Insurers in South Carolina are required to notify residential property insurance policyholders if the policy contains a separate deductible for hurricane, wind or named storm damage. If it is included, the insurer must provide an example to show how the deductible functions for a policy valued at $100,000. The insurer must also include a clear explanation of the event that will trigger the deductible.

The South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association (Wind Pool) insures properties where the homeowner has not been able to find coverage elsewhere for windstorm and hail damage from any type of windstorm. The Wind Pool operates in certain coastal areas.

Texas Deductibles
Under Texas law, the windstorm deductible applies to windstorm and hail damage from any type of wind storm, not only named storms or hurricanes.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA or Association) was established in 1971 by the Texas Legislature to provide wind and hail coverage to applicants unable to obtain insurance in the private market. The Legislature’s action was a response to market constrictions along the Texas coast after several hurricanes. TWIA is governed by Chapter 2210 of the Texas Insurance Code (Chapter 2210); however, it is not a state agency and does not receive funds from the general revenue.

The TWIA is the insurer of last resort for property owners along the Texas Gulf Coast who may otherwise not be able to find insurance. But in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, some homeowners who paid into the association for years said it failed to cover their costs or forced them into complicated legal battles to fight claims. From not returning phone calls to underestimating damage, some homeowners say Hurricane Harvey exposed problems with TWIA, an association plagued with accusations of mishandling claims and funding problems in the past.

The Texas Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan Association (FAIR Plan) provides residential property insurance to qualified homeowners who cannot obtain insurance from licensed insurance companies. The FAIR plan operates statewide but cannot provide wind and hail coverage in areas that are eligible for inclusion in the TWIA (The TWIA covers only 14 coastal counties and five communities in Harris County [Galveston Bay].) Helpinsure.com, administered by the Texas Department of Insurance has several resources available to help coastal residents find wind and hail insurance coverage. It includes a Coastal Insurance Resource page with information about wind and hail coverage and companies that are providing the coverage in coastal areas.

Virginia Deductibles
The Virginia Property Insurance Association (FAIR Plan) provides dwelling and commercial property coverage to individuals and businesses throughout the state that are unable to obtain coverage through the voluntary insurance market.

Liability and Insurance

In the wake of unprecedented losses from Hurricane Andrew in 1992, insurers in coastal states instituted hurricane deductibles to limit their exposure to hurricane-caused losses. Today, insurers in 19 states and the District of Columbia have implemented hurricane deductibles. These hurricane deductibles are separate from deductibles for other hazards such as fire, and often several times larger than standard fire deductibles. Unlike traditional deductibles, they are percentage deductibles usually expressed as a percentage of the property value. For example, homeowners who insure their $100,000 home with a 5% hurricane deductible would have to meet a deductible amount up to $5,000; the insurer would then cover any additional losses caused by the storm.

Hurricane deductibles achieved two goals desired by both the insurers and the state governments. First, they reduced the cost of insurance to homeowners. Homeowners now paid lower premiums, but assumed a greater part of the risk posed by rare, but potentially catastrophic hurricanes. Second, hurricane deductibles limited the insured hurricane losses by transferring more risk to policyholders. In this way, the deductibles protected insurance companies from insolvency after extraordinarily expensive hurricanes and allowed reinsurers to be more receptive to covering hurricane risks. This mitigation of risk for primary insurers was intended to prevent a repeat of the situation that played out after Hurricane Andrew, where insured losses caused the insolvency of 11 insurance companies.

Some problems, however, with hurricane deductibles have arisen. In particular, hurricane deductible triggers – the criteria by which states declare that a storm is a hurricane, entitling people who have bought hurricane insurance to insurance compensation – have made hurricane deductibles less effective. Depending on the state, either individual insurance companies or the state’s department of insurance determine the hurricane deductible triggers, using different combinations of metrics. Wind speeds, watches and warnings issued by the NHC, and the Saffir-Simpson Scale category are among the metrics used to determine hurricane deductible triggers. When different metrics are used to determine hurricane deductible triggers, hurricane deductibles may be triggered in one state but not another even if the same storm hits both. As a result of these different triggers, citizens of one state must pay hurricane deductibles while citizens of another do not, even if they experience the similar wind and flood damage. Complicating matters further, hurricane deductibles only apply in some cases if certain storm criteria are met and the hurricane actually makes landfall over the state in question. If the hurricane deductibles are not triggered, insurers face larger than expected losses.

A related problem with hurricane deductibles occurs when state governments stop hurricane deductibles from taking effect if a storm’s status as a hurricane is uncertain at landfall. When this happens, insurers face larger than expected losses, since the insured no longer has to cover damage up to the hurricane deductible. Most recently, New Jersey and other states did not allow the application of hurricane deductibles after Superstorm Sandy when the NHC reclassified Sandy as a “post-tropical” storm, not a hurricane, before it made landfall. This decision saved money for the insured who no longer had to cover damages up to the deductible, but their savings came at the expense of insurers who faced larger-than-expected losses. The losses exceeded estimates in part because hurricane risk models usually assume that hurricanes will trigger hurricane deductibles.

In addition to Hurricane deductibles, Flood insurance, usually purchased through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), can also be an important part limiting exposure to losses from hurricanes. Storm surges resulting from Hurricanes routinely flood coastal areas and flood insurance can help to mitigate the resulting damage. While most flood insurance is only available from the NFIP through the federal government, private insurance is available in some areas and some states recognize flood insurance as a surplus line on their export list. For more information regarding which states have flood insurance on their export list, please consult the RAA’s Flood Chart. Separate windstorm deductibles are also useful in mitigating hurricane losses. While hurricane insurance only covers wind damage from hurricanes, windstorm insurance covers additional losses from other wind related incidents.

Litigation

Litigation following a hurricane is inevitable. Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, and Hurricane Rita, which occurred less than a month later, led to a great deal of litigation, some of which was still active a decade later. Insurance disputes occurred almost immediately, related to the significant obstacles to properly and rapidly assessing claims -- policies had been lost or destroyed, homeowners and business owners were not able to return to destroyed properties to assess the damage, and agents had lost housing and offices and could not be found. Over time, class action suits were filed against insurers that accused insurers of not paying what was owed. Difficult issues arose, such as whether a homeowner’s policy would cover flood damage that resulted from the hurricanes.

In contrast to litigation generated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Superstorm Sandy did not lead to the expected number of coverage lawsuits, despite the storm being the third most costly hurricane ever covered by domestic insurers. Insured losses were estimated at $18.8 billion. Some experts have stated that the quick responses of insurers and the involvement of state regulators were the reasons for the relative lack of litigation, a positive indication for the future of insurer-policyholder relations.

Future Outlook

It is important to recognize that hurricanes are not preventable, but there are many ways to better prepare for them. Policymakers must design legislation that avoids “unnecessary and unintentional overlaps” between insurance offered by the public and private sector so that homeowners understand what their hurricane insurance covers and what it does not. Investment in infrastructure can lower losses of assets and life during storms. A massive system of pumps in New Orleans built after Hurricane Katrina can quickly remove enough water from the city in the event of flooding to fill an Olympic size swimming pool in three seconds, providing one example of an infrastructure project that better prepares a region for hurricanes.

Improvements in forecasting can also help minimize the loss of life and assets during storms. Although forecasts account for wind exposure, the major damage caused by extreme storm surges during Superstorm Sandy highlighted a major gap in data meteorologists collected about hurricanes. As some experts predict that extreme storm surges will become more frequent due to rises in sea level caused by climate change, accurate storm surge forecasts are critical to minimize the threat that hurricanes pose.

Along with forecasting and infrastructure, financial safeguards will remain indispensable as tools for businesses and individuals to recover after a storm. Business interruption loss cover helped smaller companies affected by Sandy get back on their feet after the storm. High-risk areas like the Gulf of Mexico will continue to require financial protection against hurricanes that have the potential to disrupt oil and gas operations. With the potential for big storms rising, hurricane insurance will become even more critical in the future.

In the News

2024

• Florida picking up the pieces after Milton: 14 dead, 3M without power - John Bacon, Trevor Hughes, Christopher Cann, Chris Kenning, Jorge L. Ortiz, and Thao Nguyen, USA Today (10/10/2024)
  Hurricane Milton plowed into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after tearing a path of destruction across Florida, killing at least 14 people and knocking out power to millions, yet averting the "worst-case scenario" meteorologists, officials and residents had feared.
• Moody's RMS estimates $11 billion in private insured losses from Hurricane Helene - Kenneth Araullo, Insurance Business (10/08/2024)
  Moody's RMS Event Response has estimated that total US private market insured losses from Hurricane Helene will range between $8 billion and $14 billion, with a best estimate of $11 billion. This estimate includes losses associated with wind, storm surge, and flooding caused by the storm. In addition, losses to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) are expected to exceed $2 billion.
• Homeowners hit by Hurricane Helene face the grim task of rebuilding without flood insurance - Sally Ho, The Associated Press (10/05/2024)
  A week after Hurricane Helene overwhelmed the Southeastern U.S., homeowners hit the hardest are grappling with how they could possibly pay for the flood damage from one of the deadliest storms to hit the mainland in recent history. The Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26 has dumped trillions of gallons of water across several states, leaving a catastrophic trail of destruction that spans hundreds of miles inland. More than 200 people have died in what is now the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina, according to statistics from the National Hurricane Center.
• FEMA deploys to rough terrain after Helene as it faces criticism, fights misinformation - Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Maxine Joselow, Clara Ence Morse and Will Oremus, The Washington Post (10/04/2024)
  The Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed more than a thousand personnel and millions of meals and liters of water to the communities hard hit by Helene, but is struggling to reach some communities deep in mountainous and remote areas of North Carolina that were most affected by the storm. FEMA has deployed more than 1,500 personnel to respond to Helene. As of Friday, the agency had shipped more than 11.5 million meals, more than 12.6 million liters of water, more than 400,000 tarps and 150 generators to the affected region. The agency sent a similar number of personnel — roughly 2,000 — to Florida and the Southeast a week after Hurricane Ian struck there in 2022, according to a news release.
• Modeler KCC Puts Privately Insured Losses at $6.4B From Helene - William Rabb and Chad Hemenway, Insurance Journal (10/03/2024)
  Karen Clark & Co., the well-regarded storm modeling and analytics firm, estimated that privately insured losses from Hurricane Helene will be about $6.4 billion – from wind, storm surge and inland flooding in nine states. The figure includes residential, commercial and industrial properties and automobile losses—as well as business interruption—but does not include boats or National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
• 'Devastating consequences': Climate change likely worsened floods after Helene - Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today (10/03/2024)
  Flooding on some western North Carolina rivers blew past records set in 1916 as extreme rainfall amounts in the last week of September led to a rampaging slush of mud and debris. Scientists said this week they see the unmistakable fingerprint of climate change in the flooding rain ahead of and during Hurricane Helene. Enormous rainfall totals took place over three days along more than 200 miles of the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia into Virginia.
• Hurricane Francine losses manageable but primary insurers to bear costs: AM Best - Kane Wells, Reinsurance News (09/16/2024)
  A new report from AM Best has revealed that losses resulting from Hurricane Francine will likely be manageable in aggregate, though will be borne by primary insurers given a shift toward higher reinsurance attachments.
• Gulf Coast residents still reeling from Hurricane Ida clean up mess left by Francine - Jack Brook and Sara Cline, The Associated Press (09/13/2024)
  From cemeteries to homes to businesses and parks, Gulf Coast residents, many still reeling from the devastation of Hurricane Ida three years ago, were cleaning up the mess left by Francine, which struck Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane Wednesday.
• Atlantic hurricane forecast says danger lurks: When will the storms return? - Doyle Rice, USA Today (08/22/2024)
  As tropical activity heats up in the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic hurricane season approaches its typical peak for activity. But all seems quiet — for now. "Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days," National Hurricane Center hurricane specialist Jack Beven wrote Thursday morning in the agency's morning forecast.
• Ernesto regains hurricane status, bringing life-threatening surf and rip currents for East Coast - Dennis Romero and Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News (08/18/2024)
  Ernesto strengthened early Monday after reclaiming hurricane status over the weekend and produced life-threatening surf and rip currents for much of the East Coast. While the hurricane grew stronger in the past hours, generating maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center said Ernesto's cloud pattern suggested it had stopped strengthening.
• Colorado State University changes forecast for 2024 hurricane season in latest update - Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post (08/06/2024)
  Colorado State University reduced the number of named storms it is predicting this hurricane season following a weekslong lull between Tropical Storm Chris and Hurricane Debby. The revised forecast, which is still calling for a hyperactive season, was released Tuesday as part of CSU's regularly scheduled updates. The seasonal forecast now calls for a total of 23 named storms, down from a July forecast of 25, including 12 hurricanes. Of the 12 hurricanes, six are forecast to be major storms of Category 3 strength or higher. The numbers include tropical storms Alberto and Chris and Hurricane Beryl.
• Damage From Hurricane Beryl May Cost Insurers $2.7B in US, $510M in Caribbean: KCC - Insurance Journal (07/11/2024)
  Insurers in the United States may take a hit of about $2.7 billion from damage caused by Hurricane Beryl, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Thursday. About 1.5 million customers remained without power in Texas on Wednesday, two days after Beryl raked the state as progress to restore electricity was slow, hampering efforts to quickly restart critical oil infrastructure.
• Hurricane Beryl makes landfall on Texas coast; life-threatening storm surge expected - Dennis Romero and Patrick Smith, NBC News (07/08/2024)
  Hurricane Beryl struck the Texas coast early Monday after regaining strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico overnight, with forecasters warning that dangerous storm surges and flash flooding were expected.
• Dangerous Hurricane Beryl restrengthens to Category 4 off Grenada - Danica Coto, The Associated Press (07/01/2024)
  Beryl has restrengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm was located about 70 miles (125 kilometers) east of Grenada on Monday morning and had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph.)
• Alberto, season’s first named tropical storm, dumps rain on Texas and Mexico, which reports 3 deaths - Alfredo Pena and Mariana Martinez Barba, The Associated Press (06/20/2024)
  Tropical Storm Alberto formed Wednesday in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm of what is forecast to be a busy hurricane season. Authorities in Mexico reported three deaths from its rains. Alberto, which is bringing strong winds, heavy rainfall and some flooding along the coasts of Texas and Mexico, is expected to make landfall in northern Mexico early Thursday.
• Hurricane track forecasts have hit a wall but new modeling may give them a boost - Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post (05/25/2024)
  With the June 1 official start date of hurricane season coming soon, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is looking to a new weather prediction model called the Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System, or HAFS, to boost track and intensity forecasts. HAFS, which uses weather and climate supercomputers installed in 2022, ran side-by-side existing hurricane models last year. It is expected to supplant current forecast models by the end of the 2024 hurricane season.
• WMO warns of up to seven major hurricanes in North Atlantic in 2024 - UN News (05/24/2024)
  Typically, an average year sees 14 named storms with wind speeds exceeding 65 kilometres (40 miles) per hour. However, this year, 17 to 25 storms are expected, with four to seven of them potentially becoming major hurricanes, characterized by winds of at least 178 kilometres (111 miles) per hour. However, this year, 17 to 25 storms are expected, with four to seven of them potentially becoming major hurricanes, characterized by winds of at least 178 kilometres (111 miles) per hour. The usual average is three major hurricanes per year.
• Hawaii officials stress preparedness despite below-normal central Pacific hurricane season outlook - Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, The Associated Press (05/21/2024)
  This year’s hurricane season for waters around Hawaii will likely be “below normal” with one to four tropical cyclones across the central Pacific region, forecasters said Tuesday. Officials stressed the importance of preparing for extreme weather, regardless of the outlook, with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green proclaiming hurricane preparedness week.
• Bad news for hurricane season: La Niña chances grow more certain, NOAA says - Doyle Rice, USA Today (05/09/2024)
  Climate troublemaker La Niña isn't here yet – but it is on the way, federal weather forecasters said in a report released Thursday morning. In fact, forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gave the climate pattern as much as an 85% chance of forming by late fall. "We are very confident that La Niña will form by this fall," Nat Johnson, a NOAA meteorologist, told USA TODAY. Once it forms, it's also supposed to last through next winter and would impact U.S. weather throughout the coldest months.
• Triple-I Stresses Preparedness for ‘Very Active’ 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season - Business Wire (05/03/2024)
  The start of what is forecast to be a “very active” 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is just four weeks away and the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) is recommending homeowners, condo owners, renters and business owners prepare now.
• AccuWeather Forecasts Explosive 2024 Hurricane Season - AccuWeather (03/27/2024)
  The AccuWeather 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast calls for 20 to 25 named storms. Eight to 12 of those storms are forecast to strengthen into hurricanes. Four to six storms could directly impact the United States. “The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is forecast to feature well above the historical average number of tropical storms, hurricanes, major hurricanes, and direct U.S. impacts,” said AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Forecaster Alex DaSilva. “All indications are pointing toward a very active and potentially explosive Atlantic hurricane season in 2024.”
• Hurricane season forecast is already looking grim: Here's why hot oceans, La Niña matter - Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today (03/04/2024)
  With three months to go until Atlantic hurricane season starts, the chances for a La Niña by summer are increasing, and that's an anxiety-inducing forecast for those still recovering from hurricanes along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic seaboard in recent years. "We've got possibly extremely warm sea surface temperatures, especially in the main (hurricane) development region and the prospect of La Niña being in place," said Florida State climatologist David Zierden. "That's not good news for hurricane season."
• Does NOAA’s La Niña Watch mean more hurricanes for NC this year? What experts say - Martha Quillin, The News & Observer (02/23/2024)
  One of the stronger El Niños on record is expected to fade away this spring, likely to be followed by a La Niña that could make for a busy Atlantic hurricane season.
• Hilary was not a tropical storm when it entered California, yet it had the same impact, study shows - John Antczak, The Associated Press (02/22/2024)
  Former Hurricane Hilary was actually no longer a tropical storm but essentially had the same impact when its destructive remnants entered California last August, according to a new National Hurricane Center report.
• AccuWeather sounding alarm bells: Super-charged hurricane season possible in 2024 - Brian Lada, AccuWeather (02/20/2024)
  While the Atlantic hurricane season does not officially start until June 1, there are already “serious and growing concerns” about the impending season, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. There are two key factors that have AccuWeather forecasters sounding the early warning of a potentially super-charged season: The return of La Niña and historically warm water across the Atlantic Ocean.
• A big change is coming to the indispensable hurricane cone. It may help you better prepare. - Scott Dance, The Washington Post (02/02/2024)
  The hurricane center will issue an experimental version this year that will depict watches and warnings for inland tropical storms and hurricanes, superimposed on top of the forecast cone, aiming to communicate not just the storm path but the extent of its potential impacts.

2023

• Hurricane season ends: See how 4th most active season produces just 3 landfalling storms - Jennifer Borresen, USA Today (12/04/2023)
  It was a very early start to the Atlantic Hurricane season. The first storm formed on Jan. 16 and was an unnamed subtropical storm, making landfall in Nova Scotia. It was an above-average season thanks to record-breaking surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, and in spite of a strong El Nino. Idalia was the only Hurricane to make U.S. landfall in the 2023 hurricane season.
• Atlantic hurricane season ranks 4th for most-named storms in a year - Sheri Walsh, UPI (11/29/2023)
  The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, which officially comes to a close on Thursday, stirred up a fourth-place ranking when it comes to most-named storms in a year.
• National Hurricane Center gives system in Atlantic low chance for development - Cheryl McCloud, USA Today (11/24/2023)
  Chances are dropping for tropical development of a system in the Atlantic, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center. Invest 90 is located in the Central Atlantic and currently has a low chance for development.
• Moody’s RMS estimates Hurricane Otis insured losses at $2.5bn-$4.5bn - Kane Wells, Reinsurance News (11/14/2023)
  Moody’s RMS has estimated that private market insured losses from Hurricane Otis will be between $2.5 billion and $4.5 billion.
• A big gap in hurricane insurance coverage surprised this Coast policyholder. Now he’s suing - Anita Lee, Sun Herald (11/06/2023)
  Patrick Vice-Stokes is suing insurance carrier Lloyd’s of London, along with insurance agent Stan Gartman and Gartman Insurance Agency of Ocean Springs in Hancock County Circuit Court. He’s seeking unspecified damages to compensate him for Hurricane Zeta damage, plus the distress he’s suffered over losses he thought were covered, and punitive damages for what he claims was gross negligence on the part of Lloyd’s and Gartman.
• Death toll rises to 48 as Mexico struggles to cope with Hurricane Otis - EFE (10/31/2023)
  Five days after the impact of Hurricane Otis, which made landfall Wednesday as a Category 5 hurricane, the Mexican government is making slow progress in the recovery and damage assessment in Acapulco. On Monday, the government raised the death toll to 48 dead and 36 missing.
• Otis teaches a terrifying lesson in rapid hurricane intensification - John Morales, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (10/27/2023)
  This is a scary new paradigm in the tropics. And we all need to worry. Hurricane Otis struck very near Acapulco, Mexico, on Tuesday night as a monster 165 mile-per-hour category 5 cyclone. On Monday night, about 24-hours before landfall, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) was predicting it would do so as 70 mile-per-hour tropical storm.
• Hurricane Otis survivors search for friends and necessities in devastated Acapulco - Mark Stevenson, The Associated Press (10/26/2023)
  Survivors of a Category 5 storm that killed at least 27 people as it devastated Mexico’s resort city of Acapulco spent Thursday searching for acquaintances and necessities and hoping that aid would come quickly in the wake of Hurricane Otis.
• Hurricane center tracks Tropical Storm Philippe and 2 more systems - Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel (09/25/2023)
  The National Hurricane Center continues to track the season’s 16th named storm in Tropical Storm Philippe while keeping tabs on two other systems with a chance to become the season’s 17th.
• Private market insured losses from Hurricane Idalia to be $3-5 bln - Moody's RMS - Reuters (09/04/2023)
  Private market insured losses are expected to be between $3 billion and $5 billion due to Hurricane Idalia which struck the Big Bend region of Florida last week, the catastrophe risk modeling business of Moody's said in a report on Monday.
• Florida’s Gulf Coast braces for Cat 3 as Tropical Storm Idalia nears hurricane status - Alex Harris, Miami Herald (08/29/2023)
  Florida could see an even stronger hurricane this week than initially predicted, bringing dangerous winds and life-threatening storm surge to much of the state’s Gulf Coast.
• Millions in economic and insured losses emerge after Hurricane Hilary’s devastating impact: Aon - Akankshita Mukhopadhyay, Reinsurance News (08/25/2023)
  In the aftermath of Hurricane Hilary’s unprecedented impact on the western United States and Mexico, the region is grappling with significant economic and insured losses that could potentially soar into the hundreds of millions of USD, according to Aon’s latest weekly cat report.
• Hurricane Hilary could be first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years - Lauren Sforza, The Hill (08/17/2023)
  Tropical Storm Hilary strengthened into a hurricane Thursday, with forecasters warning it could potentially bring devastating rainfall and high winds to Southern California this weekend. The last tropical storm to impact the state was 84 years ago, according to official records.
• New study finds far more hurricane-related deaths in US, especially among poor and vulnerable - Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press (08/16/2023)
  Hurricanes in the U.S. the last few decades killed thousands more people than meteorologists traditionally calculate and a disproportionate number of those victims are poor, vulnerable and minorities, according to a new epidemiological study.
• Hurricane center tracks 2 Atlantic systems with chance to form - Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel (08/13/2023)
  The National Hurricane Center began tracking two systems in the Atlantic with a chance to form into the season’s next tropical depression or storm. In the NHC’s 8 p.m. tropical outlook Sunday, it forecast two systems with a chance for development, one in the eastern tropical Atlantic and one in the central tropical Atlantic.
• Hurricane risk is about to ramp up. Here's why experts are expecting a busy 2023 season. - Doyle Rice, USA Today (08/01/2023)
  August is here, and that usually means it's time for the hurricane season to ramp up. "While we're about one-third of the way done with the season, we've got about 95% of seasonal activity to go from an historical perspective," Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach told USA TODAY.
• Just one Atlantic disturbance remains after two others dissipate, hurricane forecasters say - Kasey Bubnash, NOLA (07/26/2023)
  Hurricane forecasters are now tracking just one disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean after two others that cropped up over the last several days dissipated Tuesday night and early Wednesday. The one remaining area of concern is a tropical wave west of Africa, National Hurricane Center forecasters said in a morning update Wednesday.
• After devastating 2022 hurricane season, AAA not renewing some insurance policies in Florida - Mike Schneider, The Associated Press (07/18/2023)
  AAA won’t renew “a very small percentage” of homeowners and auto insurance policies in hurricane-wracked Florida, joining other insurers in limiting their exposure in the Sunshine State despite efforts by lawmakers to calm the volatile insurance market, the company said Tuesday.
• Moody’s RMS: near-normal Atlantic hurricane season predicted - Captive International (06/26/2023)
  The Moody’s RMS forecast for 2023 indicates that a near-normal season is most likely, due to the competing and opposing influence of several key factors such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and above-average North Atlantic sea surface temperatures.
• Tropical Storm Bret moves west in Atlantic, with possible hurricane threat to Caribbean islands - The Associated Press (06/20/2023)
  Tropical Storm Bret formed in the central Atlantic Ocean on Monday, with forecasters saying it could pose a hurricane threat to the eastern Caribbean by Thursday and the Dominican Republic and Haiti by the weekend.
• Climate Change-Influenced Hurricane Season Could Threaten an Estimated 33 Million Homes According to CoreLogic - Business Wire (06/01/2023)
  To mark the start of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season, CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its 2023 Hurricane Risk Report, shedding light on the evolving landscape of hurricane risk in the face of climate change. The report analyzes risks for single-family residences (SFRs) and multifamily residences (MFRs) along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts.
• Struggle continue for thousands in Florida 8 months after Hurricane Ian as new storm season looms - Curt Anderson, The Associated Press (05/29/2023)
  Recovery is far from complete in hard-hit Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Pine Island, with this year’s Atlantic hurricane season officially beginning June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting a roughly average tropical storm season forecast of 12 to 17 named storms, five to nine becoming hurricanes and one to four powering into major hurricanes with winds greater than 110 mph (177 kph).
• Berkshire Could Suffer $15 Billion Loss From a Florida Hurricane - Andrew Bary, Barron's (05/08/2023)
  Berkshire Hathaway has increased its insurance exposure to Florida, opening it up to a possible $15 billion loss if there is a major hurricane in the state. Ajit Jain, Berkshire’s head of insurance operations, made the comments Saturday at the company’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Berkshire took on much of the additional exposure in April.
• Experts Predict “Slightly Below Average” 2023 Hurricane Season - Jason Metz, Forbes (04/17/2023)
  After a 2022 “near normal” Atlantic hurricane season, Colorado State University (CSU) predicts that the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season will be “slightly below average” with 13 named storms and major hurricanes making landfall.
• Ian, Fiona retired from list of hurricane names because of 2022 death and destruction - Doyle Rice, USA Today (03/29/2023)
  Farewell, Ian and Fiona. And good riddance. The World Meteorological Organization has retired both names from its rotating list of Atlantic storm names because of the death and destruction caused by the storms in 2022.
• Hurricane Ian Federal Assistance Climbs Past $5 Billion; Thousands of Floridians Affected by Hurricane Nicole Register for Assistance - FEMA, FEMA (01/17/2023)
  More than $5 billion in federal grants, disaster loans and flood insurance payments has been provided to the state of Florida and to households affected by Hurricane Ian to help survivors jumpstart their recovery.

   

2022

• 2022 hurricane season third-most expensive: Munich Re - Matthew Lerner, Business Insurance (11/30/2022)
  Losses tied to Hurricane Ian have made the 2022 North Atlantic hurricane season the third-most expensive to date with insured losses of approximately $65 billion and overall losses of around $110 billion, excluding the National Flood Insurance Program, according to a report from Munich Re on Wednesday.

   

• Damaging 2022 Atlantic hurricane season draws to a close - NOAA, NOAA (11/29/2022)
  The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on November 30, but the impact of Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona — which brought extensive damage to Florida’s coast and Puerto Rico, respectively — will continue to be felt long after the season is over.

   

• Lloyd’s of London Estimates Claims From Hurricane Ian of US$2.3B-US$3B - The Insurance Journal, The Insurance Journal (11/21/2022)
  Lloyd’s announced that the market’s claims from Hurricane Ian are estimated to be in the range of US$2.3 billion – US$3 billion, net of reinsurance, based on Q3 data provided by Lloyd’s syndicates.

   

• Florida county puts damage from Nicole at $522 million - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (11/15/2022)
  Damages are estimated at more than $522 million in a central Florida coastal county where homes collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean following Hurricane Nicole last week.

   

• Property insurance company cancels Florida couple’s policy night before Hurricane Ian hit - Mahsa Saeidi, The Hill (10/27/2022)
  The night before Hurricane Ian hit Florida, Colantuono and his wife were getting ready. They were buying supplies and prepping their house when they got the news nobody wants. “She was white as a ghost,” he recalled. “She said, ‘We just got cancelled by Frontline.'”

   

• Hurricane Ian Claims Hit Profits of Chubb - Leslie Scism, The Wall Street Journal (10/25/2022)
  Chubb Ltd. posted a 56% decline in net income in the third quarter, as Hurricane Ian claims in Florida dented results, while strong pricing conditions continued to buoy its worldwide business-insurance operations.

   

• Ian’s damage to Florida agriculture as high as $1.8 billion - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (10/25/2022)
  Hurricane Ian caused as much as $1.8 billion in damages to Florida agriculture last month, state agriculture officials said.

   

• Munich Re Warns on Target After $1.6 Billion Hit From Ian - Stephan Kahl, Bloomberg (10/21/2022)
  Munich Re said it will probably take a hit of about 1.6 billion euros ($1.6 billion) after hurricane Ian led to massive damages in Florida, and warned reaching its full-year profit goal has become “significantly more challenging.”

   

• Maximizing Insurance Recoveries for Hurricane Ian Losses and the Remainder of the 2022 Hurricane Season - Tyrone Childress, Lisa Cirando, Edward Joyce, Tara Kowalski, Jason Lissy, Jones Day (10/20/2022)
  The Situation: On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall on Florida and tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane ever to hit the continental United States, with total insured losses estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.
  
  The Result: Businesses in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and various other states are recovering from their substantial property damage and business interruption losses.
  
  Looking Ahead: Commercial policyholders affected by Hurricane Ian should collect and review all potentially applicable insurance policies, remaining mindful of various policy provisions, including but not limited to notice, proof of loss, and suit-limitation conditions.

   

• In wake of Ian, Florida homeowners could receive up to $10K for home hardening - Rebecca Liebson, The Tampa Bay Times (10/13/2022)
  Floridians may soon have access to a $150 million program aimed at helping them harden their homes. In May, Florida lawmakers passed a sweeping property insurance reform package. Among other things, the bill resurrected the My Safe Florida Home program, which provides homeowners with free home inspections and grants up to $10,000 to make storm safety related improvements.

   

• RMS puts insured losses up to $74B for Hurricane Ian - Matthew Lerner, Business Insurance (10/07/2022)
  Risk Management Solutions Inc., a Moody’s Analytics company, Friday estimated insured losses from Hurricane Ian to be between $53 billion and $74 billion, with a best estimate of $67 billion.

   

• Tropical Storm Julia likely to form in southern Caribbean Friday - Robin Webb and Victoria Ballard, South Florida Sun Sentinel (10/07/2022)
  The season’s next named storm is likely to form Friday over the southern Caribbean, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.

   

• Ian to 'Significantly Impact' Property Rates for Coastal States: MarketScout - Insurance Journal, Insurance Journal (10/05/2022)
  Hurricane Ian is going to affect commercial and personal property rates “significantly” – not just in Florida, predicted MarketScout. The Dallas-based insurance distribution and underwriting company released its quarterly Market Barometer of rate conditions in personal and commercial insurance lines. Overall, MarketScout reported an uptick of about 5.3% in the commercial market composite rate during the third quarter 2022, and an increase of about 4.6% for personal lines during the same period.

   

• Jury finds USAA must pay $10M in damages over Hurricane Katrina case - Steven Santana, My San Antonio (10/05/2022)
  A Mississippi jury found that San Antonio-based USAA must pay $10 million in damages to Paul Minor and his wife Sylvia Minor’s estate on September 23, bringing to end a second lawsuit over Hurricane Katrina involving the insurance giant after the verdict of the first was appealed. USAA was already ordered to pay $1.5 million to the Minors in 2017, the Express-News reported.

   

• Climate change made Hurricane Ian worse, study finds - Dharna Noor, The Boston Globe (10/03/2022)
  Climate change increased the rainfall from Hurricane Ian by more than 10 percent, two U.S. researchers have found.
• Hurricane Ian industry loss estimated close to $63bn by KCC - Steve Evans, Artemis (10/03/2022)
  Private insurance industry losses from major hurricane Ian are expected to rise close to $63 billion, according to catastrophe modeller Karen Clark & Company.

   

• Hurricane Ian didn't come anywhere near Louisiana. But it could still roil our insurance market. - Gordon Russell, The Advocate (10/01/2022)
  Hurricane Ian, 2022’s first killer cyclone, missed Louisiana by hundreds of miles. But the devastating Category 4 storm, which caused damages estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, could still make its presence felt here by further roiling Louisiana’s balky property insurance market.
• Hurricane Ian Damage Toll In The Billions, Will Slow US Growth - Juliette Michel, Barron's (09/30/2022)
  With homes and infrastructure wrecked by wind or flooding and businesses shut down, the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Ian is expected to cost Florida tens of billions of dollars and hit the broader US economy.

   

• Hurricane Ian’s Toll Is Severe. Lack of Insurance Will Make It Worse. - Christopher Flavelle, The New York Times (09/29/2022)
  Most of the Florida homes in the path of Hurricane Ian lack flood insurance, posing a major challenge to rebuilding efforts, new data show. In the counties whose residents were told to evacuate, just 18.5 percent of homes have coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program, according to Milliman, an actuarial firm that works with the program.

   

• Hurricane Ian's Devastation Shows the Challenge of Pricing Climate Risk - Ephrat Livni, The New York Times (09/29/2022)
  Hurricane Ian, now downgraded to a tropical storm, is expected to inflict as much as $40 billion in property damage claims and much higher total economic losses, RBC Capital Markets analysts calculated in an early assessment. Even though ferocious storms like Ian seem to make landfall with increasing regularity, insurers and environmentalists say that pricing the risk associated with these events will only get trickier.

   

• Hurricane Ian slams southwest Florida with "catastrophic" storm surge - Jacob Knutson, Axios (09/29/2022)
  Hurricane Ian was flooding some areas of Florida's west coast with storm surges that could reach up to 18 feet above ground level as it moved across the peninsula after making landfall Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. Surge numbers that high — 12 to 18 ft — would be unprecedented for the region and some of the highest on record in the U.S.
  
  

   

• Hurricane Ian 'Near Worst-Case Scenario For Tampa': NHC - Anna Skinner, Newsweek (09/26/2022)
  Hurricane Ian continues to grow in strength since it was upgraded from a tropical storm this morning. Meteorologists and various reports share growing concern as the strong storm progresses toward Tampa with the potential to strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane as it passes through the Gulf of Mexico.
• Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Cuba as it strengthens to Category 3 - John Bacon and Celina Tebor, USA Today (09/26/2022)
  Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cuba early Tuesday after it strengthened to a Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds. The storm was forecast to strengthen further over warm Gulf of Mexico waters before reaching Florida as early as Wednesday as a Category 4 storm with top winds of 140 mph.
  
  

   

• Canada counts damage after Fiona; Cuba and Florida brace for tropical storm Ian - The Canadian Press, Channel News Asia (09/26/2022)
  Parts of eastern Canada suffered "immense" devastation, officials said Sunday (Sep 25) after powerful storm Fiona swept houses into the sea and caused major power outages, as the Caribbean and Florida braced for intensifying tropical storm Ian.

   

• Death toll rises to 4 as Hurricane Fiona hits Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Guadeloupe - Paola Rosa-Aquino, Business Insider (09/20/2022)
  Four people have been killed due to the catastrophic flooding and high-speed winds from Hurricane Fiona.
  
  

   

• State Farm, Mississippi settle lawsuit over Katrina payments - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (09/15/2022)
  Mississippi has quietly settled its lawsuit against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. for allegedly minimizing its Hurricane Katrina payments to policyholders, leaving the state to compensate homeowners.
  
  

   

• Tropical Storm Fiona forms in Atlantic, headed toward Puerto Rico - Doyle Rice, USA Today (09/14/2022)
  Tropical Depression Seven strengthened to Tropical Storm Fiona late Wednesday in the Atlantic Ocean as it made its way toward Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the National Hurricane Center said.
  
  

   

• Tracking The Tropics: Hurricane Earl forecast to become first major hurricane of the season - Lissette Gonzalez, CBS News (09/07/2022)
  A very active start to the month of September in the tropics as the CBS4 Next Weather team is tracking four areas. At this time, there are no threats or concerns for South Florida.

   

• Calm before storms? Oddly quiet Atlantic despite forecasts - Seth Borenstein & Rebecca Santana, The Associated Press (08/31/2022)
  It’s been quiet — too quiet — this Atlantic hurricane season, meteorologists and residents of storm-prone areas whisper almost as if not to tempt fate.

   

• Two storm systems brewing in Atlantic after quietest hurricane season in 40 years - Ethan Freedman, The Independent (08/31/2022)
  The Atlantic hurricane season has so far been extremely quiet, the first year in four decades with only three tropical storms to form by the end of August.
  
  

   

• Hurricane center tracks 2 tropical waves pushing west in the Atlantic - Chris Perkins, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Yahoo (08/26/2022)
  The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two areas, and one is a disturbance poised to enter the Caribbean.
  
  

   

• State Farm subsidiary to pay $100M for false Katrina claims - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (08/24/2022)
  State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., a subsidiary of State Farm Insurance, has agreed to pay the federal government $100 million in restitution over its alleged mishandling of flood insurance claims after Hurricane Katrina.

   

• What would happen if Category 5 Hurricane Andrew hit Florida today - Bob Henson, The Washington Post (08/23/2022)
  Forecasters and the public alike had no time to waste 30 years ago this month as they confronted one of the fiercest U.S. hurricane landfalls on record.
  
  

   

• Quiet hurricane season? Not for long, Tampa Bay meteorologists say - Michaela Mulligan, Tampa Bay Times (08/19/2022)
  It has been well over a month since the Atlantic Ocean has had any rumblings of tropical storm activity. There have been only three named storms so far this year. The last was Tropical Storm Colin, which fizzled out along the South Carolina coast over the Fourth of July weekend.

   

• If more than 2 big storms hit Florida this year, insurers could be in trouble - South Florida Sun Sentinel, Insurance News Net (08/15/2022)
  So here we go, Florida. Peak hurricane season is bearing down on us like that flying saucer in the movie Nope.Insurance insiders say we’re covered — as long as we don’t get more than two major storms.Typically, mid-August through mid-October is when Florida and the southeastern United States face the biggest risk of destructive tropical cyclones. You know the infamous hurricane names: Irma, Michael, Katrina, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. All of them made landfall during that period.
  

   

• Hurricane center tracking new system in mid Atlantic - Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel (08/14/2022)
  A new system emerged in the Atlantic over the weekend and has a small chance of developing, the National Hurricane Center said Monday morning.
  
  

   

• Industry goes unregulated as Florida home insurance rates soar, critics say - Orlando Sentinel, Insurance News (06/29/2022)
  Florida hasn't seen a major hurricane make landfall in four years, yet a record number of property insurance companies have gone under and premiums for millions of homeowners are soaring, even after regulators approved repeated requests to raise rates and dump thousands of policyholders.

   

• Total insurance losses from Laura, Ida now over $20B, commissioner says - Adam Daigle, Forbes (04/24/2022)
  Hurricanes Laura and Ida has resulted in over $20 billion in insurance losses, insurance commissioner Jim Donelon said.
  
  

   

• This could be a potentially record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season - Kari Pugh, The Virginian-Pilot, Yahoo News (04/22/2022)
  North Carolina State University researchers are predicting the Atlantic basin will see another record-breaking number of severe storms this year.
  
  

   

• Four major hurricanes forecast for 2022 Atlantic hurricane season - Erwin Seba, Reuters (04/07/2022)
  The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to include four major hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 111 miles per hour (178 km per hour), forecasters at Colorado State University said on Thursday.

   

2021

• 2 Louisiana insurance companies fail after Hurricane Ida - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (12/05/2021)
  Insurance companies operating in Louisiana will be charged at least $100 million to pay the claims of two failed property insurers who went belly up in Hurricane Ida’s aftermath. But the cost of dealing with the insolvent insurers ultimately will fall on the state after companies recoup the dollars through a series of tax credits.

   

• Shell warns of possible $500 million hit from Hurricane Ida - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (10/07/2021)
  Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell warned Thursday that it will take an earnings hit of up to $500 million as a result of the disruptions caused by Hurricane Ida, which hit the Gulf of Mexico in late August.

   

• Ida Storm Damage Expected to Cost Insurers at Least $31 Billion - Leslie Scism, The Wall Street Journal (09/22/2021)
  Ida is poised to join Katrina, Sandy, Harvey and Irma on the list of the top five costliest hurricanes as measured by insured losses.
  
  

   

• After Ida, small businesses face uncertainty on many fronts - Mae Anderson, The Associated Press (09/09/2021)
  A week or more after Ida, business owners from Louisiana to Connecticut are still adding up the financial losses and assessing the physical and emotional toll, grappling to find a way forward.

   

• CoreLogic Estimates $16 Billion to $24 Billion in Insured and Uninsured Flood Losses in the Northeast from Tropical Storm Ida - Business Wire, Business Wire (09/08/2021)
  CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released additional loss estimates for Hurricane Ida, following its initial release estimating between $27 billion and $40 billion in insured and uninsured losses from wind, storm surge and inland flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi. According to this new analysis, specifically for the U.S. Northeast, subsequent Tropical Storm Ida caused an estimated $16 billion to $24 billion in insured and uninsured inland flood losses to residential and commercial properties.

   

• Hurricane Ida insured losses in US Gulf region estimated at $25B-$35B - Matthew Lerner, Business Insurance (09/07/2021)
  Risk Management Services Inc. Tuesday estimated onshore and offshore U.S. insured losses from Hurricane Ida in the Gulf of Mexico region to be between $25 billion and $35 billion.
  
  

   

• At least 350 oil and chemical spills reported in Louisiana waters after Hurricane Ida - Tristan Baurick, Nola News (09/06/2021)
  The tally of oil and chemical spills in the wake of Hurricane Ida continues to grow, reaching 350 on Monday morning, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
  
  

   

• Refineries Potentially Face Weekslong Outages After Hurricane Ida - Collin Eaton, The Wall Street Journal (09/01/2021)
  Refineries that were caught in the path of Hurricane Ida could take weeks to resume operations because of widespread power outages.
  
  

   

• Insurers may take $18 bln hit from Hurricane Ida - industry experts - Reuters, Reuters (09/01/2021)
  Insurers are bracing for a hit of about $18 billion from Hurricane Ida in the United States and the Caribbean, catastrophe modeling company Karen Clark & Co (KCC) said on Wednesday.

   

• Firms Estimate Hurricane Ida Could Cause Over $15 Billion in Insured Losses - Akane Otani, The Wall Street Journal (08/31/2021)
  Powerful storm surges caused by Hurricane Ida could cause billions of dollars in insured losses across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, firms estimate.
  
  

   

• Americans Could Feel Ida's Impact At The Gas Pump - Rachel Treisman & Camila Domonoske, NPR (08/30/2021)
  Hundreds of thousands of people are without power in Louisiana and Mississippi, and outages could last for more than a month in parts of the region.
  
  

   

• Experts predict busy Atlantic storm season but not like 2020 - Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press (05/20/2021)
  The Atlantic hurricane season will be busier than normal, but it’s unlikely to be as crazy as 2020’s record-shattering year, meteorologists said Thursday.
  
  

   

• As hurricane season approaches, 3 insurers canceling thousands of Florida customers - Ron Hurtibise, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Yahoo News (05/18/2021)
  As another hurricane season bears down on the state, more than 50,000 Florida home insurance customers will soon receive notices that their policies have been canceled or won’t be renewed.
  
  

   

• 2020 tied a record for the most major hurricanes in the Atlantic, after further review - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (05/12/2021)
  After each hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center pens detailed write-ups that require them to meticulously review each storm that formed. Once in a while, they encounter new data that changes how they categorize storms.
  
  

   

• Andres becomes the earliest tropical storm on record to form in the Pacific - Donovan Slack, USA Today (05/09/2021)
  Tropical Storm Andres on Sunday became the earliest named storm on record to develop in the eastern Pacific Ocean, according to the National Weather Service.
  
  

   

• Hurricane researchers predict 2021 Atlantic season to be above average - ABC 7 News, ABC 7 News (04/08/2021)
  More forecasters and researchers believe the 2021 hurricane season will be above average, according to predictions released Thursday by Dr. Phil Klotzbach from Colorado State University.
  

   

• Insurers paid $5B for 2020 Louisiana hurricane claims so far - The Associated Press, The Associated Press (01/27/2021)
  Insurance companies have paid out $5 billion to thousands of Louisiana customers with damage from the 2020 hurricanes so far, according to data released by Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon’s office that offers the first detailed look at claims.

   

• TikTok Video Helps Louisiana Woman With Storm Claims - John Guidroz, Claims Journal (01/11/2021)
  One Lake Charles woman credits the power of social media in getting one step closer to having her hurricane-damaged home repaired after weeks of roadblocks with her insurance claim.

   

2020

• Federal Judge in Louisiana Approves Hurricane Lawsuit Plan - Claims Journal, Claims Journal (12/15/2020)
  A federal judge in western Louisiana has approved a plan on how to settle thousands of lawsuits expected to be filed against insurance companies over damage from a pair of hurricanes that hit the region six weeks apart.

   

• Tropical Storm Iota sweeps Central America with humanitarian crisis looming - Kathryn Prociv, Phil Helsel, NBC News (11/16/2020)
  Iota made landfall in Nicaragua late Monday as a powerful and "extremely dangerous" Category 4 hurricane, bringing with it catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surge, forecasters said.
  
  

   

• As property insurance costs skyrocket, lawmakers will consider these ideas to keep coverage affordable - Ron Hurtibise, South Florida Sun Sentinel (11/14/2020)
  As Florida homeowners recover from shocking cost increases for their next year of insurance coverage, pressure is mounting on state lawmakers to step in and stem the bleeding.
  
  

   

• Hurricanes are staying stronger even over land as oceans warm from climate change, study finds - Andrew Freedman, Chris Mooney, The Washington Post (11/11/2020)
  In early October 2018, Hurricane Michael bulldozed its way across the Florida Panhandle as a rare Category 5 storm. While its damage along the shore was near total, it also was an example of a storm that remained dangerously intense quite a distance inland. About 140 miles inland, in and around Albany, Ga., Michael was still producing hurricane-force wind gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center.
  
  

   

• Tropical storm warning, storm surge watch issued for Florida’s west coast as Eta nears - Alex Harris et al, The Miami Herald (11/11/2020)
  Tropical Storm Eta has grown a little stronger as it moved north-northeast Tuesday night posing a risk of flooding over South Florida and an eventual landfall in the Florida Panhandle, forecasters say.
  
  

   

• The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is busiest on record as Subtropical Storm Theta forms - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (11/09/2020)
  In a move truly on brand for 2020, the Atlantic Ocean broke its record for the all-time busiest hurricane season Monday evening as a new subtropical storm formed and earned the name “Theta.”
  
  

   

• Hurricane Eta brings disastrous flooding to Central America, with concern growing in southeastern U.S. - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (11/04/2020)
  After roaring ashore Tuesday afternoon in Nicaragua with 140 mph winds and what the National Hurricane Center called a life-threatening storm surge, Tropical Storm Eta is unleashing widespread flooding rains across much of Central America. A flood disaster is probably underway as a number of locations are set to see mudslides amid forecast rainfall totals of 2 to 3 feet. Meanwhile, concern is growing in Cuba and the southeastern United States, including Florida, where Eta may head next.
  
  

   

• Hurricane Eta set for Nicaragua landfall as ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 4 storm - Kate Feldman, New York Daily News (11/03/2020)
  Hurricane Eta is “meandering” near the Nicaraguan coast Tuesday afternoon, just 15 miles south of Puerto Cabezas as of 4 p.m.
  
  

   

• Louisiana to see uptick in jobs to rebuild after three hurricanes made landfall; billions in damages - Kristen Mosbrucker, The Advocate (11/02/2020)
  After three hurricanes made landfall in Louisiana over the past few weeks efforts to recover after the storms may boost the state's otherwise bleak jobs market.
  
  

   

• Historic hurricane season wreaked havoc on offshore drillers - Paul Takahashi, Houston Chronicle (10/28/2020)
  Offshore oil companies faced the most disruption from the 2020 hurricane season in over a decade, according to a new report.
  
  
• Hurricane Zeta hits Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as Category 1 storm; US landfall expected Wednesday - N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Doyle Rice, USA Today (10/26/2020)
  After strengthening into a hurricane early in the day, Zeta crashed ashore on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 1 storm late Monday with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.
  
  

   

• Epsilon prompts warnings over Bermuda, watching Newfoundland this weekend - Digital Writers, Yahoo Finance (10/22/2020)
  Hurricane Epsilon continues to churn in the mid-Atlantic, with a tropical storm warning still in effect for Bermuda as the storm, though not likely make landfall on the island, is expected to have an impact.
  
  

   

• Tropical Storm Epsilon forms, as Atlantic nears record for busiest hurricane season - Matthew Cappucci, The Seattle Times (10/19/2020)
  Tropical Storm Epsilon formed Monday in the open Atlantic Ocean, a little more than 735 miles southeast of Bermuda. With maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, it is the 26th named storm of the busy 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, one tropical storm away from tying 2005′s record.
  
  

   

• ‘We can’t lose our momentum:’ Louisiana vows to rebuild - Rebecca Santana et al, The Associated Press (10/11/2020)
  Back-to-back hurricanes in the space of six weeks left parts of Louisiana blanketed Sunday with tarpaulins, mangled metal and downed power lines — but not necessarily despair.

   

• Hurricane Delta Strengthens to Category 3 as It Eyes Louisiana Coast - Cameron McWhirter, Erin Ailworth, The Wall Street Journal (10/09/2020)
  Officials urged people to evacuate parts of southern Louisiana as Hurricane Delta strengthened Thursday over the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward a section of the state still recovering from August’s Hurricane Laura.
  
  

   

• ‘This is not a bad dream’: New hurricane menaces Louisiana - Rebecca Santana, Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press (10/09/2020)
  Louisiana residents confronting the menace of a new hurricane weeks after one battered parts of the state got stark warnings Thursday to brace for winds that could turn still-uncollected debris into dangerous missiles and again knock out power to thousands.

   

• Tropical Storm Delta strengthens in Caribbean, forecast to target Gulf Coast as hurricane - Travis Fedschun, Adam Klotz, Fox News (10/05/2020)
  A newly formed tropical storm on Monday was growing stronger in the warm waters of the Caribbean and could make landfall later this week as a hurricane somewhere along the storm-battered Gulf Coast, according to forecasters.
  
  

   

• Gonzalo forecast to strengthen into a hurricane as it heads toward Windward Islands - Alex Harris and Michelle Marchante, The News & Observer (07/22/2020)
  Tropical Storm Gonzalo is continuing to strengthen as it moves through the Atlantic and is expected to become a hurricane on Thursday, forecasters say.
• As climate change strengthens hurricanes, could Bermuda High cause more loops in Atlantic? - Sara Coello, The Post and Courier (07/16/2020)
  Coastal communities were relieved in 2019 when Hurricane Dorian, like so many storms before it, stayed out at sea and spared the Southeast from the brunt of its winds.
• Florida windstorm premiums rising during hurricane season predicted to be ‘above average': report - Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel (06/30/2020)
  On top of the economic pains of the 2020 recession, now Florida homeowners have one more financial ache to worry about; rising home insurance rates.
• Preparing for the big one: Orange County emergency chief balances COVID-19 with hurricane threat - Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel (06/22/2020)
  The 2020 hurricane season is predicted to have above average tropical activity this year between August and September. On top of that, COVID-19 cases in Orange County have surged in growth over the last two weeks.
• El Niño not likely this year, forecasters say, further boosting chances of a busy hurricane season - Doyle Rice, USA Today (06/11/2020)
  El Niño isn't likely to form this year, federal forecasters announced Thursday. This could be more bad news for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, which is already off to a roaring start with a record three named storms so far.
  
  
• After slamming Gulf Coast, Cristobal will drop heavy rain all the way north to Canada - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (06/08/2020)
  Tropical Storm Cristobal slammed into the Louisiana coast near Grand Isle on Sunday, bringing flooding rain, coastal inundation and strong winds all along the northern Gulf Coast. The storm’s impacts have shifted inland, where Cristobal could cause serious flooding as its tropical remnants swirl up the Mississippi River Valley. Heavy rainfall and pockets of flooding will probably accompany the system all the way to Canada.
  
  
• Colorado State updates 2020 hurricane forecast - Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post (06/04/2020)
  Colorado State University boosted the number of named storms expected this hurricane season as the atmosphere organizes for a potential cyclone-inciting La Niña.
  
  
• Cristobal makes landfall in Mexico and could loop back toward the US Gulf Coast this weekend - Jennifer Gray, Judson Jones, CNN (06/03/2020)
  Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall Wednesday morning in Mexico, and if the storm holds together, it could loop back across the Gulf of Mexico and toward the United States by the weekend.
  
  
• Tropical Storm Cristobal Develops in Bay of Campeche; U.S. Gulf Coast Threat Early Next Week - The Weather Channel, The Weather Channel (06/02/2020)
  Tropical Storm Cristobal is nearly stalled in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, but it could pose a threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast early next week. Before that happens, life-threatening, dangerous flooding will continue in parts of Central America and Mexico.
  
  
• Atlantic hurricane season begins; between 6 and 10 expected - Don Jacobson, UPI (06/01/2020)
  Federal and state officials are issuing updated emergency management plans as the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins Monday amid a substantially different environment the close of the 2019 season saw last November.
  
  
• A drug company may have violated the privacyof thousands of people who are taking a medicine to prevent them from coming down with HIV. - John Schwartz, Christopher Flavelle, The New York Times (05/21/2020)
  The coming Atlantic hurricane season is “expected to be a busy one,” with the likelihood of as many as 19 named storms, including as many as six major hurricanes, a federal weather scientist said Thursday. That worrisome forecast could be further complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, which is hobbling relief agencies and could turn evacuation shelters into disease hot spots.
  
  
• Cyclone Amphan poses extreme storm surge danger for eastern India, Bangladesh - Andrew Freedman, Joanna Slater, The Washington Post (05/19/2020)
  Category 3 Tropical Cyclone Amphan is barreling northward toward the mouth of the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday and is forecast to make landfall in West Bengal, India, just south of Kolkata, on Wednesday. The storm is prompting officials in the states of Odisha and West Bengal, as well as in neighboring Bangladesh, to try to evacuate 3 million people out of harm’s way, given that this region is among the most vulnerable parts of the world to storm-surge flooding.
  
  
• India and Bangladesh brace for the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal - Ben Westcott et al, CNN (05/19/2020)
  Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are in the path of a super cyclone which is due to make landfall in less than 36 hours, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain to a region already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are becoming stronger, according to a new NOAA study - Judson Jones, Brandon Miller, CNN (05/18/2020)
  It is becoming increasingly evident that hurricanes, typhoons, and tropical cyclones worldwide are becoming stronger and potentially more deadly as the globe warms due to the climate crisis, according to a new study.
  
  
• Tropical storm could form before start of Atlantic hurricane season for 6th straight year - Jason Samenow, The Washington Post (05/12/2020)
  The Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t officially start until June 1, but the National Hurricane Center is tracking a disturbance off the East Coast that could become a named storm this weekend.
  
  
• April broke heat records in Miami. It could bring a record-breaking hurricane season too. - Alex Harris, The Miami Herald (05/07/2020)
  Miami had an April so hot it had only a 1-in-666 chance of happening, and that record-breaking sizzle could mean Florida is in for an active hurricane season.
  
  
• Early forecasts call for busy hurricane season - David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel (04/22/2020)
  Early forecasts for hurricane season have produced an ominous consensus: The odds of a busy season have strengthened.
  
  
• 4 major hurricanes are predicted as part of an above-normal 2020 Atlantic hurricane season - Judson Jones, CNN (04/02/2020)
  Sixteen named storms, including eight hurricanes, are forecast for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, according to early predictions released Thursday by experts at Colorado State University.
• Abnormally warm Gulf of Mexico could intensify the upcoming tornado and hurricane seasons - Matthew Cappucci, The Philadelphia Inquirer (03/31/2020)
  Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are running more than three degrees above average, increasing the prospects for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes this spring and potentially stronger hurricane activity in the summer and fall.
  
  
• Busy hurricane season predicted to threaten SC, Southeast - Bo Petersen, The Post and Courier (03/25/2020)
  This hurricane season might be brutal again, a private forecaster has predicted.
  
  

2019

• Why Typhoon Hagibis packed such a deadly, devastating punch in Japan - Andrew Freedman, The Washington Post (10/14/2019)
  Typhoon Hagibis proved to be extraordinarily devastating for northern Japan when it struck this weekend, unleashing more than three feet of rain in just 24 hours in some locations, causing widespread flash flooding as well as river flooding. The storm has killed at least 58, according to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
• Insured Losses for Typhoon Faxai Estimated at US$3B-US$7B: AIR Worldwide - Insurance Journal (09/16/2019)
  Industry insured losses from Typhoon Faxai, which made landfall in Japan on Sept. 9, will be between 340 billion Japanese yen (US$3 billion) and 740 billion yen (USD 7 billion), estimated Boston-based catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide.
• Hurricane Dorian Insured Losses in Bahamas Could Hit $6.5 Billion: RMS - Claims Journal (09/10/2019)
  Insured losses in the Caribbean from Hurricane Dorian is estimated at $3.5 billion to $6.5 billion, according to RMS, the risk modeling and analytics firm.
• Report: Major hurricane could cost Virginia $40 billion - Staff, The Associated Press (06/18/2019)
  Experts say that southeastern Virginia could suffer $40 billion in losses if it’s struck by a major hurricane.
• Strengthening Cyclone Fani could hit eastern India as ‘extremely severe’ storm - Matthew Cappucci, The Washington Post (04/30/2019)
  Cyclone Fani, packing winds of nearly 110 mph, is set to slam eastern India later this week, bringing with it destructive winds, rain totals topping a foot and a potentially devastating storm surge.

2018

• Impact of Hurricane Harvey on health, environment still a concern a year later - Jeff Mosier, Dallas News (08/17/2018)
  Floodwater caused most of the damage when Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast a year ago. But that region's air quality was also harmed when the Category 4 hurricane swept through the U.S. oil refining and chemical heartland. . . .Using state data, the Environmental Integrity Project determined that Hurricane Harvey was responsible for 8.3 million pounds of unauthorized air pollution late last summer. Most were the result of industrial plants suddenly shutting down as Harvey struck, including some emergencies involving flooding, sudden power outages or lightning strikes. . . . The large-scale pollution could have been averted if refineries and chemical plants in the region had prepared for a planned shutdown, according to an Environmental Integrity Project report released Thursday. And the state's decision to suspend pollution reporting requirements in the aftermath of the storm has made it difficult to assess health effects.
• Arkema NA, CEO Indicted in Texas for ‘Reckless’ Chemical Release - Emily Schmall, Insurance Journal (08/06/2018)
  The North American subsidiary of a French chemical manufacturer and two senior staff members were indicted in connection with last year’s explosion at the Crosby, Texas, plant in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. . . . Arkema North America, its CEO Richard Rowe and plant manager Leslie Comardelle were charged in the Harris County indictment with “recklessly” releasing chemicals into the air. The charge carries up to $1 million in fines and five years’ imprisonment. . . . “Indictments against corporations are rare,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement. “Those who poison our environment will be prosecuted when the evidence justifies it.” . . . After Arkema’s plant lost power, its organic peroxides began heating and decomposing. The compounds, used in a variety of products from plastics to paints, caught fire and partially exploded, sending plumes of smoke skyward. . . . First responders and neighbors said they were sickened after the incident at the plant near Houston. . . . Arkema spokeswoman Janet Smith said the corporation would fight the indictment, citing a U.S. Chemical Safety Board report released last May that credited it for having safeguards that likely would’ve worked in a low-level flood event.
• Frustrated Gulf Coast homeowners call for end to TWIA - Marina Starleaf Riker, Victoria Advocate (03/25/2018)
  Nancy Bolting felt so frustrated she had to walk away. . . . It was almost a week after Hurricane Harvey, and Bolting and her husband were meeting with their insurance adjuster to review damage to their Rockport home, she said. As they talked in the backyard, Bolting argued that her home had more damage than the adjuster said was covered. . . . “He would say, ‘not covered, not covered, not covered,’” Bolting recalled. “At this point, I walk away because I’m in tears because we have devastation all around us.” . . . . But little did she know, the battle with her insurance company, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, was only beginning. It wasn’t until mid-March that Bolting said she finally received all of her compensation – about $22,000 to replace her roof, which is far greater than the $2,000 she initially was offered, she said. . . . “It’s a sad thing that you pay into it – and you’re forced to, you have to have it – but then they want to fight giving you back the money,” Bolting said. . . . The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, known as TWIA, is the insurer of last resort for property owners along the Texas Gulf Coast who may otherwise not be able to find insurance. But in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, some homeowners who paid into the association for years said it failed to cover their costs or forced them into complicated legal battles to fight claims. From not returning phone calls to underestimating damage, some homeowners say Hurricane Harvey exposed problems with TWIA, an association plagued with accusations of mishandling claims and funding problems in the past.

2017

• Insurance claims statewide from Irma top $5 billion - Tia Mitchell, Florida Times-Union (10/23/2017)
  Irma-related insurance claims in Florida have surpassed $5 billion, according to the latest data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. . . . That office said that as of Monday Florida homeowners and businesses owners have filed claims with their insurance companies to recover damages due to Hurricane Irma worth $5.3 billion. That includes a total of 772,934 claims, 646,486 of which were tied to residential properties like homes and condominiums. . . . On average, each claim represents $6,872 in damages. . . . The 10 counties with the most insurance claims are Miami-Dade, Broward, Lee, Orange, Collier, Polk, Brevard, Palm Beach, Monroe and Duval. Together, they represent 66 percent of the statewide total.
• Hurricane and earthquake disasters to cost global insurers $95bn, says Swiss Re - John-Paul Ford Rojas, Sky News (10/20/2017)
  Insurers are expected to take a total hit of $95bn (£72bn) as a result of a hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and earthquakes in Mexico, according to the world's second largest reinsurer Swiss Re. . . . The Zurich-based business put its own claims burden from the disasters at $3.6bn in the third quarter, including $175m related to Mexico
• Raw sewage contaminating waters in Puerto Rico after Maria - AP (10/19/2017)
  Raw sewage is pouring into the rivers and reservoirs of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. People without running water bathe and wash their clothes in contaminated streams, and some islanders have been drinking water from condemned wells. . . . Nearly a month after the hurricane made landfall, Puerto Rico is only beginning to come to grips with a massive environmental emergency that has no clear end in sight. . . . “I think this will be the most challenging environmental response after a hurricane that our country has ever seen,” said Judith Enck, who served as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency region that includes Puerto Rico under President Barack Obama.
• Appeals court tosses $72 million award in Johnson & Johnson talcum powder case - Margaret Stafford, AP, Chicago Tribune (10/17/2017)
  A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday threw out a $72 million award to a woman who claimed talcum powder made by Johnson & Johnson contributed to her ovarian cancer, saying Missouri was not the proper jurisdiction for the lawsuit. . . . The Missouri Eastern District Court's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Jacqueline Fox, 62, of Birmingham, Alabama, who claimed the baby powder and other Johnson & Johnson products that she used for about 25 years contributed to her cancer. She died in 2015, about four months before her case went to trial in St. Louis Circuit Court. She was joined by 64 other plaintiffs but only two lived in Missouri.
• $1.2B in insured losses after Irma for state-created insurer - AP (09/27/2017)
  

  Florida's state-created property insurer says Hurricane Irma will cause over $1 billion in insured losses to the company. . . . Citizens Property Insurance Corporation presented initial estimates about storm damage to the company's board of governors on Wednesday. . . . Officials said Citizens had ample resources to pay up to 70,000 claims and roughly $1.23 billion in insured losses expected after Irma swept across the state this month. The company said the losses would be paid from its surplus, with $193 million expected to be reimbursed from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

• Sewage, fecal bacteria in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters - CNN (09/15/2017)
  

  Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath have dumped trillions of gallons of rain across Texas and Louisiana over six days. Homes, office buildings and other structures along the Gulf Coast and in Houston's Harris County, were flooded, their occupants forced to find higher ground. To reach safety, most local residents waded through the murky streams, in some cases for hours. . . .Scientists, including Lane Voorhies, a senior environmental scientist at A&B Labs in Houston, expressed concern about what this water might contain.

• Up to $30 bn in insured damages from Hurricane Harvey: Munich Re - DailyMail.com (09/10/2017)
  

  Hurricane Harvey, which lashed Texas and Louisiana with unprecedented rain last month, could end up costing insurers between $25 and $30 billion (21 and 25 billion euros), German reinsurance firm Munich Re estimated on Sunday. . . . "It is a big estimate. The cost could climb a little bit, but not much," said Torsten Jeworrek, a member of Munich Re's management board, during at an insurance conference in Monaco. . . . Damage estimates for Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall in Texas on August 26 before returning out to sea to then lash Louisiana, vary from around $50 billion to well in excess of $100 billion. . . .However not all property was insured or fully insured.

• Questions Arise About Health Hazards From Chemical-Plant Explosions - Alexandra Berzon, WSJ.com (09/09/2017)
  

  Products that potentially posed acute health hazards exploded last week at a Houston-area chemical plant after Hurricane Harvey and first responders at the site say they weren’t properly warned of their risks. . . . Documentation on the website provided by Arkema Inc., which owns the facility in Crosby, Texas, said that a number of the peroxides it produces could harm people who might inhale or otherwise contact them. The company, in an online fact sheet it released after fire broke out at the plant, said the risks included eye, skin or respiratory irritation, nausea, drowsiness and dizziness. . . . Those symptoms were similar to those described in a lawsuit filed Thursday in a Texas court by sheriff’s deputies and first responders who were in vehicles about 1.5 miles from the plant after it had been evacuated for fear of chemical explosions.

• (Re)insurers sue El Faro data provider for $49mn - Matthew Neill, The Insurance Insider (06/27/2017)
  Several Lloyd’s and US (re)insurers have launched a $49mn legal action against Norwegian weather data provider StormGeo alleging defective read-outs from its system contributed to the sinking of the El Faro in 2015, according to court documents.
• UM researchers find new way to measure hurricanes: ‘gravity waves’ - Jenny Staletovich, The Miami Herald (05/17/2017)
  Hurricane forecasters may have a new tool in solving the vexing problem of understanding storm intensity: gravity waves. Gravity waves are produced when air moving around the atmosphere gets pushed from one place to another. In a hurricane, those waves can come in quick, short bursts as powerful thunderstorms around the storm's eye wall swish air up and down like a plunger in a toilet bowl. Scientists have long known they exist, measuring them in the stratosphere about 20 or 30 miles above a storm. Now, for the first time, University of Miami scientists have ventured into the heart of the storm, measuring the waves where they start. And early indications suggest wave power relates directly to storm power.
• Hurricane Matthew marine debris removal cost rises by $2.5 million - Lucas High, The Beaufort Gazette (04/26/2017)
  With Hurricane Matthew debris removal virtually complete along Beaufort County’s roads, the focus of storm cleanup has shifted to local waterways — a much bigger and more expensive job than previously thought with a price tag that has risen by $2.5 million.
• Rare April tropical storm forms in Atlantic, marking abnormally early start to hurricane season - Jason Samenow, The Washington Post (04/21/2017)
  Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t officially begin until June 1, but 2017’s edition is off to a premature start thanks to the formation of Tropical Storm Arlene.
• Indecisive El Niño makes 2017 hurricane forecast bigger gamble - Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post (04/17/2017)
  After building to a record-challenging virility in 2015,El Niño is playing coy this year, making the job of seasonal hurricane forecasting an even bigger gamble than normal.
• Finally, a storm plan for the Texas coast - harvey Rice, The Houston Chronicle (04/03/2017)
  GALVESTON - Texas' first plan for lessening damage from the next destructive hurricane calls for hundreds of millions of dollars in projects along the Texas coast, including turning a once-controversial housing project on Galveston Island into a nature preserve. The General Land Office recently issued its Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan, which calls for taking actions that would ease the impact of a storm on the coastal economy and combat effects of erosion on the coast and bays. The plan does not deal with proposals like the coastal barrier, or Ike Dike, a storm-surge protection structure that has been recommended by a recent study and endorsed by Land Commissioner George P. Bush. Nor does it deal with the excruciatingly slow pace of rebuilding housing after a storm, the subject of a bill that the Legislature is expected to consider this session.

2016

• Hurricane Matthew causes up to $15bn impact to US and Caribbean economies in October, according to Aon catastrophe report - PRNewswire (11/09/2016)
  Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield's catastrophe model development team, today launches the latest edition of its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluates the impact of the natural disaster events that occurred worldwide during October 2016. Aon Benfield is the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc. The report reveals that Hurricane Matthew swept through parts of the Caribbean and United States, killing 49 people in the U.S. – including 28 in North Carolina – and 552 people in the Caribbean...Total U.S. economic losses from Matthew were forecast to range as high as USD10 billion, while public and private insurance losses were estimated to possibly reach USD5 billion. Much of the inland flood loss in North Carolina went uninsured due to low take-up of the U.S. government's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
• Estimated insured losses for U.S., Caribbean from Hurricane Matthew US$2.5 billion to US$8 billion: RMS - Canadian Underwriter (10/21/2016)
  RMS has estimated Hurricane Matthew will produce insured losses of US$1.5 billion to US$5 billion for the United States and US$1 billion to US$3 billion in the Caribbean, making it the reinsurance industry’s costliest Atlantic hurricane since Sandy four years ago. Only one of 10 RMS event reconstructions generated a U.S. loss in excess of US$4 billion, notes a statement Friday from the catastrophe risk management firm. “However, the company advises there is still a small possibility that losses could reach as high as US$5 billion,” RMS reports, adding estimates are based on reconstructing Matthew’s hazard from both remote and on-the-ground damage surveys.
• North Carolina buildings take $1.5B hit from Matthew floods - Reuters, CNBC (10/17/2016)
  Flooding spawned by Hurricane Matthew has caused $1.5 billion in damage to 100,000 homes, businesses and government buildings in North Carolina, according to a state estimate. The figure released late Saturday represents one of the first detailed analyses of damage from the storm, and it's part of a growing picture of Matthew's financial impact. With floodwaters yet to recede in some communities, officials say the number could fluctuate. "I do think that there may be more out there," John Dorman, an assistant state emergency management director, said of whether the number could grow. Dorman said the state's computer modeling combines property records, topography and stream gauges to estimate how many feet of water have affected a given building - and how much damage that water caused. The state also used manned aircraft and drones to verify projections.
• A.M. Best Briefing: Bermuda Property/Casualty Insurers Likely to Look to Reinsurers in Wake of Hurricane Nicole - Business Wire (10/14/2016)
  A.M. Best expects the reinsurance market to bear the brunt of insured losses from damage on Bermuda caused by Hurricane Nicole, according to a new briefing. Hurricane Nicole inflicted a direct blow on Bermuda on Oct. 13, 2016, as a category 3 hurricane. The eye of the storm passed directly over the island, causing Bermuda to experience sustained winds of 120 mph, heavy rains, widespread power outages and significant coastal flooding as a result of storm surge. The Best’s Briefing, “Bermuda Property/Casualty Insurers Likely to Look to Reinsurers in the Wake of Hurricane Nicole,” notes that primary domestic property/casualty insurers are heavily reinsured with manageable retentions.
• OSHA Warns of Hazards During Hurricane Matthew Cleanup - Stefanie Valentic , EHS Today (10/12/2016)
  Severe flooding, power outages and storm damage were left after the hurricane came up the Florida coast and battered the Carolinas the first week of October. Numerous counties are reporting damage into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and cleanup could take weeks, according to news sources. OSHA is reminding emergency workers, employers and the public at-large about the potentially serious hazards that come with storm cleanup and urges “vigilance”. "Recovery work should not send you to the hospital emergency room," said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA's regional administrator for the Southeast in a statement. "A range of safety and health hazards exist following storms. You can minimize these dangers with knowledge, safe work practices and personal protective equipment.
• Chances of hurricane-friendly La Niña increase - Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post (04/15/2016)
  The chances that the global weather pattern christened La Niña will take hold by early fall were increased last week to 70 percent, foreshadowing a hurricane season that for the first time in years is expected to be something other than below-average.
• La Nina chances are rising. Does that mean hurricane chances are too? - Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post (03/11/2016)
  Global weather patterns are about to take a dramatic shift as the mighty El Niño finally shows signs of weakening, making way for an atmospheric slingshot that could bring on La Niña.
• Florida stews under costliest U.S. insurance despite 10-yr. storm lull - Charles Elmore, Palm Beach Post (02/24/2016)
  Hurricanes may have swerved away since 2005, but Florida’s homeowners still are taking direct hits on the wallet.

2015

• Report: Miami region fourth-most vulnerable to costly 100-year hurricane storm surge - Ron Hurtibise, Sun-Sentinel (10/14/2015)
  The Miami area, including Fort Lauderdale and southern Broward County, is the nation's fourth-most vulnerable region to the economic cost of storm surge in a 100-year hurricane, according to a recently released report.
• Klotzbach-Gray hold firm on hurricane outlook - Ken Kaye, Sun Sentinel (07/01/2015)
  Phil Klotzbach and Bill Gray are standing pat on their call for a slower-than-normal season with eight named storms, including three hurricanes.
• El Niño Strengthens, Cuts Odds of Florida Hurricane Strike - Ken Kaye, Sun Sentinel (06/18/2015)
  Renowned for ripping apart storms, [El Niño] significantly reduces the chance of a hurricane striking this region.
• Experts tie hurricane changes to climate change - Keith Morelli, Tampa Tribune (05/27/2015)
  Climate change may be triggering an evolution in hurricanes, with some researchers predicting the violent storms could move farther north, out of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, where they have threatened coastlines for centuries.

2014

• Hurricane Center: New Warnings on Storm Surge - ABC News – AP (12/11/2014)
  

  If tropical weather approaches the U.S. next year, coastal residents will see new, separate warnings about storm surge in addition to those about winds, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday. .  .  . The separate storm-surge warnings will begin with the 2015 hurricane season and should provide emergency managers and the public with better information about tropical weather hazards, officials said.

• BP adjusts Gulf tactics to prepare for sneakier storms - Collin Eaton, Houston Chronicle (05/30/2014)
  A new batch of small, unpredictable storms in the Gulf of Mexico flummoxed forecast models last year, prompting BP to make better preparations for sudden bad weather during this summer's Atlantic hurricane season, which begins Sunday.
• Offshore wind farms could tame hurricanes before they reach land, Stanford-led study says. - Bjorn Carey, Stanford Report (02/26/2014)
  What would happen if a hurricane encountered a large array of offshore wind turbines?... In the case of Katrina, Jacobson's model revealed that an array of 78,000 wind turbines off the coast of New Orleans would have significantly weakened the hurricane well before it made landfall.

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