INSURANCE TOPICS

Catastrophes: U.S.

ISO defines a catastrophe as an event that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a significant number of property/casualty policyholders and insurers. The estimates in the following chart represent anticipated insured losses from catastrophes on an industrywide basis, reflecting the total net insurance payment for personal and commercial property lines of insurance covering fixed property, vehicles, boats, related-property items, business interruption and additional living expenses. They exclude loss-adjustment expenses. Catastrophe losses surged in 2008, reaching $25.2 billion, the highest since the record $62.3 billion reached in 2005, the year of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the fourth costliest year in a decade. There were 37 catastrophes in 2008, the highest number of catastrophic events in a single year since 1998.

THE TEN MOST COSTLY CATASTROPHES, UNITED STATES (1)

($ millions)

			Insured loss
Rank	Date	Peril	Dollars when occurred	In 2008 dollars (2)
1	Aug. 2005	Hurricane Katrina	$41,100	$45,310
2	Aug. 1992	Hurricane Andrew	15,500	23,786
3	Sep. 2001	World Trade Center, Pentagon terrorist attacks	18,778	22,829
4	Jan. 1994	Northridge, CA earthquake	12,500	18,160
5	Sep. 2008	Hurricane Ike	12,500	12,500
6	Oct. 2005	Hurricane Wilma	10,300	11,355
7	Aug. 2004	Hurricane Charley	7,475	8,520
8	Sep. 2004	Hurricane Ivan	7,110	8,104
9	Sep. 1989	Hurricane Hugo	4,195	7,284
10	Sep. 2005	Hurricane Rita	5,627	6,204

(1) Property coverage only. Does not include flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program. As of September 2009.
(2) Adjusted to 2008 dollars by ISO.

Source: ISO's Property Claim Services unit (PCS).

INSURED LOSSES, U.S. CATASTROPHES, 1999-2008 (1)

Year	Number of catastrophes	Number of claims (millions)	Dollars when occurred ($ billions)	In 2008 dollars (2) ($ billions)
1999	27	3.2	$8.3	$10.7
2000	24	1.5	4.6	5.8
2001	20	1.5	26.5	32.2
2002	25	1.8	5.9	7.1
2003	21	2.7	12.9	15.1
2004	22	3.4	27.5	31.3
2005	24	4.4	62.3	68.7
2006	33	2.3	9.2	9.8
2007	23	1.2	6.7	7.0
2008	37	3.9	27.0	27.0

(1) Includes catastrophes causing insured losses to the industry of at least $25 million and affecting a significant number of policyholders and insurers. Does not include flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program. As of July 2009.
(2) Adjusted to 2008 dollars by the Insurance Information Institute.

Source: ISO's Property Claim Services unit (PCS); Insurance Information Institute.

INFLATION-ADJUSTED U.S. CATASTROPHE LOSSES BY CAUSE OF LOSS, 1989-2008 (1)

(1) Catastrophes are all events causing direct insured losses to property of $25 million or more in 2008 dollars. Adjusted for inflation by ISO.
(2) Excludes snow.
(3) Does not include flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program.
(4) Includes civil disorders, water damage, fires other than wildlfires and utility service disruptions.

Source: ISO's Property Claim Services unit (PCS).

TOP TEN STATES BY HIGHEST INSURED CATASTROPHE LOSSES, 2008

($ millions)

Rank	State	Estimated insured loss
1	Texas	$11,669.0
2	Louisiana	2,228.0
3	Minnesota	1,583.0
4	Ohio	1,459.0
5	Georgia	1,040.0
6	Arkansas	786.5
7	Indiana	785.0
8	Kentucky	743.0
9	Illinois	640.0
10	Kansas	638.0

Note: Catastrophes are assigned serial numbers by the Property Claim Services unit (PCS) of ISO when the insured loss to the industry resulting from an occurrence reaches at least $25 million and affects a significant number of policyholders and insurers.

Source: ISO's Property Claims Services unit (PCS).

TOP 15 MOST COSTLY HURRICANES IN THE UNITED STATES

($ millions)

				Estimated insured loss (1)
Rank	Date	Location	Hurricane	Dollars when occurred	In 2008 dollars (2)
1	Aug. 25-30, 2005	AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN	Katrina	$41,100	$45,310
2	Aug. 24-26, 1992	FL, LA	Andrew	15,500	23,786
3	Sep. 12-14, 2008	AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, OH, PA, TX	Ike	12,500	12,500
4	Oct. 24, 2005	FL	Wilma	10,300	11,355
5	Aug. 13-14, 2004	FL, NC, SC	Charley	7,475	8,520
6	Sep. 15-21, 2004	AL, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV	Ivan	7,110	8,104
7	Sep. 17-22, 1989	GA, NC, PR, SC, VA, U.S. Virgin Islands	Hugo	4,195	7,284
8	Sep. 20-26, 2005	AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, TN, TX	Rita	5,627	6,204
9	Sep. 3-9, 2004	FL, GA, NC, NY, SC	Frances	4,595	5,237
10	Sep. 15-29, 2004	DE, FL, GA, MD, NJ, NY, NC, PA, PR, SC, VA	Jeanne	3,655	4,166
11	Sept. 21-28, 1998	AL, FL, LA, MS, PR, U.S. Virgin Islands	Georges	2,955	3,903
12	Oct. 4, 1995	FL, AL, GA, NC, SC, TN	Opal	2,100	2,967
13	Sep. 14-17, 1999	NC, NJ, VA, FL, SC, PA, 10 other states	Floyd	1,960	2,533
14	Sep. 11, 1992	Kaui and Oahu, HI	Iniki	1,600	2,455
15	Sep. 5, 1996	NC, SC, VA, MD, WV, PA, OH	Fran	1,600	2,196

(1) Property coverage only. Does not include flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program. As of September 2009.
(2) Adjusted to 2008 dollars by ISO (top ten) and Insurance Information Institute.
(3) Estimated.

Source: ISO's Property Claim Services unit (PCS); Insurance Information Institute.

Number Of Tornadoes And Related Deaths Per Month, 2007

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Storm Prediction Center, National Weather Service.

Flood Insurance: Hurricane Katrina Counties

County (State)	Percent of homes with flood insurance policy
St. Bernard (LA)	57.7%
Jefferson (LA)	57.4
St. Charles (LA)	52.5
Plaquemines (LA)	45.6
St. Tammany (LA)	43.2
Orleans (LA)	40.0
St. John The Baptist (LA)	30.8
Baldwin (AL)	23.5
Hancock (MS)	23.4
Harrison (MS)	11.7
Jackson (MS)	10.4
Tangipahoa (LA)	7.3
St. James (LA)	7.0
Mobile (AL)	3.9

Source: Census Bureau; FEMA; New York Times.

Households With Disaster-Preparedness Measures

Source: Insurance Research Council: Public Attitude Monitor, 2003.

TOP TEN STATES IN COASTAL POPULATION GROWTH, BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE ADDED, 1980-2003 (1)

(millions)

Rank	State	By people added	Rank	State	By people added
1	California	9.9	6	New York	1.6
2	Florida	7.1	7	New Jersey	1.2
3	Texas	2.5	8	Maryland	1.2
4	Washington	1.7	9	Michigan	0.8
5	Virginia	1.6	10	Massachusetts	0.7

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VALUE OF INSURED COASTAL PROPERTIES VULNERABLE TO HURRICANES BY STATE, 2007 (1)

($ billions)

State	Coastal	Total exposure (2)	Coastal as a percent of total
Florida	$2,458.6	$3,119.6	79%
New York	2,378.9	3,851.1	62
Texas	895.1	3,493.0	26
Massachusetts	772.8	1,426.4	54
New Jersey	635.5	1,875.2	34
Connecticut	479.9	750.4	64
Louisiana	224.4	638.4	35
South Carolina	191.9	698.2	28
Virginia	158.8	1,409.4	11
Maine	146.9	250.0	59
North Carolina	132.8	1,431.8	9
Alabama	92.5	744.8	12
Georgia	85.6	1,573.3	5
Delaware	60.6	170.8	36
New Hampshire	55.7	237.4	23
Rhode Island	54.1	189.3	29
Mississippi	51.8	394.6	13
Maryland	14.9	1,078.4	1
Total, above states	$8,890.8	$23,332.4	38%
Total U.S.	$8,890.8	$53,495.0	17%

(1) Includes residential and commercial properties. Ranked by value of insured coastal property.
(2) Total exposure is an estimate of the actual total value of all property in the state that is insured or can be insured, including the full replacement value of structures and their contents and the time value of business interruption coverage.

Source: AIR Worldwide.

The insured value of properties in coastal areas of the United States grew at a compound annual rate of 7 percent in the three years from 2004 through 2007, according to an AIR Worldwide study. The study puts the insured value of coastal properties at $8.9 trillion, or 17 percent of the insured value of properties in all states.