The growth of the US population in hurricane-prone states, as well as the heavier rainfall that accompanies these storms, has created more expensive insurance claim payments for property damage caused by wind and flooding, according to a new brief issued by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I).
Source: Nasa Earth Observatory/AFP
New research from Triple-I’s latest Issue Brief shows that the largest increases in the dollar value of NFIP claim payouts over the past 20 years have occurred in the following areas of the US: Texas coast and inland Louisiana, Coastal northern Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, and Inland northern New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
At the same time, Triple-I argued that while wind power and storm surge in coastal areas “grab the headlines,” inland flooding is also “increasing,”
The brief reads: “In August 2021, Hurricane Ida brought strong winds and severe flooding to the Louisiana coast before delivering so much water to the Northeast that Philadelphia and New York City saw flooded subway stations days after the storm. Ida also caused a staggering death toll thousands of miles from where the storm first made landfall.”
Then, if we look back to last year, there was also Hurricane Ian which caused catastrophic flooding in central Florida after making landfall in southwest Florida as a Category 4 major hurricane.
As of the end of March 2023, National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims paid after Hurricane Ian exceeded $3.4 billion, with more than 46,000 NFIP flood insurance claims received.
Triple-I also highlighted how insured losses from hurricanes have increased over the past 15 years. When adjusted for inflation, nine of the 10 costliest hurricanes in US history have hit since 2005.
The company suggests that this is due in large part to the fact that more people have been moving on damage since the 1940s, and Census Bureau data shows that homes being built are bigger and more expensive than ever. As a result, with larger homes filled with more valuable items and replacement costs on the rise, the data suggests that demographic changes play a “bigger role” in disaster-related claims and losses than weather and climate.
The key figures to note from the Census Bureau are that the most significant growth in the US population between 2011 and 2020 came in the following five states, in order: Bureau: Texas (15.6%), Florida (13.5%), South Carolina (11.3%), North Carolina (10.3%), and Georgia (9.5%).
Additionally, property damage caused by hurricanes is covered under basic homeowners and condo owner insurance policies, while renters insurance policies protect personal property against damage from hurricanes. After the hurricanes, homeowners, renters, autos, and businesses in the US collectively received tens of thousands of claims.
Property damage resulting from a flood is covered under a flood insurance policy, which is usually separate from a homeowners, condo owners, or renters insurance policy. Flood policies are underwritten through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and private insurers.
Elsewhere, continued construction on the coast — combined with rising property values and replacement costs driven higher by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — has contributed to higher exposure to loss.
Finally, the global insurance broker Aon, in research conducted with Columbia University, estimates that, under selected scenarios, hurricane losses in the US may stop increasing by at least 10% in 20 years as a result of changes in climate activity.
