III - Hurricanes

FACTS AND STATISTICS

Hurricanes

HURRICANES AND RELATED DEATHS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1988-2007

Year	Made landfall as hurricane in the U.S.	Hurricanes	Deaths (1)
1988	1	2	1
1989	3	6	56
1990	0	1	0
1991	1	1	18
1992	1	4	27
1993	1	1	3
1994	0	1	8
1995	3	3	29
1996	2	3	59
1997	1	1	6
1998	3	10	23
1999	2	8	60
2000	0	8	4
2001	0	9	42
2002	1	4	5
2003	2	7	24
2004	6 (2)	9	59
2005	7	15	1,518
2006	0	5	0
2007	1	6	1
(1) Includes fatalities from high winds of less than hurricane force from tropical storms. (2) One hurricane (Alex) is considered a strike but not technically a landfall. Source: Insurance Information Institute from data supplied by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center; ISO.

CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE CLAIMS AND LOSSES,
IN THE UNITED STATES, 1998-2005 (1)

	1998	1999	2002	2003	2004	2005
Frequency	2	5	1	2	5	6
Claims	729,450	695,850	133,700	527,800	2,259,150	3,315,550
Personal (2)	72.8%	73.9%	83.8%	82.3%	73.6%	70.0%
Commercial (2)	15.7%	17.2%	3.0%	4.1%	13.4%	9.3%
Vehicles	11.5%	9.0%	13.2%	13.5%	12.9%	20.7%

Losses ($ millions)	$3,315	$2,315	$430	$1,775	$22,900	$58,337
Personal (2)	34.9%	39.4%	66.5%	74.9%	65.7%	49.8%
Commercial (2)	59.8%	55.6	26.7%	14.0%	29.6%	44.7%
Vehicles	5.4%	5.0%	6.7%	11.1%	4.6%	5.5%

Average claim severity
Personal (2)	$2,176	$1,773	$2,554	$3,061	$9,049	$12,515
Commercial (2)	$17,331	$10,769	$28,750	$11,376	$22,337	$84,953
Vehicles	$2,124	$1,856	$1,638	$2,755	$3,626	$4,698
(1) ISO's Property Claim Services unit currently defines catastrophes as events causing at least $25 million in direct insured losses to property and affecting significant numbers of insurers and insureds. There were no catastrophic hurricanes in 2000, 2001, 2006 or 2007. (2) Property losses excluding vehicle losses. Source: ISO's Property Claim Services Unit.

THE FIVE COSTLIEST HURRICANES OF 2005

Rank	Date	Hurricane	States	Estimated insured loss ($ millions)	Fatalities
1	Aug. 25-30	Katrina	AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN	$41,100	1,500
2	Oct. 24	Wilma	FL	10,300	5
3	Sep. 20-26	Rita	AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, TN, TX	5,627	7
4	Jul. 9-11	Dennis	FL, AL, GA, MS	1,115	3
5	Sep. 14-16	Ophelia	NC, FL	35	1
	Total			58,177	1,518
Source: ISO's Property Claim Services Unit; U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center.

THE 2007 AND 2008 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASONS

The 2007 hurricane season was relatively active, with 15 named storms. The average is 11. Six of the storms became hurricanes, which is the average number of hurricanes each year. Only one hurricane, Humberto, hit the United States in 2007, the first to strike the country since Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. Humberto struck Texas and Louisiana on September 13 and caused one fatality as well as wind and rain damage in Texas. Property losses were below catastrophe loss levels, defined by ISO as $25 million or more. In addition, Tropical Storm Gabrielle made landfall in North Carolina on September 9, becoming the only tropical storm to hit the U.S. in 2007.

As of August 5 there were five named storms in the 2008 season, including two hurricanes. The first, Hurricane Bertha, which formed in early July, was downgraded to a tropical storm before it reached Bermuda on July 14. The second, Hurricane Dolly, made landfall on July 23 on San Padre Island in southeast Texas, as a Category 2 storm and then hit the mainland. Insured losses for Dolly have not yet been tallied. Modeling firm estimates range from $100 million to $800 million.

In 2006 and 2007, no hurricanes reached the $25 million catastrophe level defined by ISO. There were six catastrophic hurricanes in both 2005 and 1985, the highest annual tallies since 1949, the earliest year tracked by ISO.

CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE LOSSES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1998-2007

Year	Number of catastrophic hurricanes (1)	Insured loss (2)	Year	Number of catastrophic hurricanes (1)	Insured loss (2)
1998	2	$4.2 billion	2003	2	$2.0 billion
1999	5	2.9 billion	2004	5	25.1 billion
2000 (3)	0	NA	2005	6	61.9 billion
2001 (3)	0	NA	2006 (3)	0	NA
2002	1	496.0 million	2007 (3)	0	NA
(1) Major hurricanes as defined by ISO. (2) Adjusted to 2007 dollars by ISO. (3) No wind event met ISO's Property Claim Services Unit catastrophe definition of a single incident or a series of related incidents, man-made or natural disasters that causes insured property losses of at least $25 million and affects a significant number of policyholders and insurers. NA= Not applicable. Source: ISO's Property Claim Services Unit.

TOP 15 MOST COSTLY HURRICANES IN THE UNITED STATES

($ millions)

				Estimated insured loss (1)
Rank	Date	Location	Hurricane	Dollars when occurred	In 2007 dollars (2)
1	Aug. 25-30, 2005	AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN	Katrina	$41,100	$43,625
2	Aug. 24-26, 1992	FL, LA	Andrew	15,500	22,902
3	Oct. 24, 2005	FL	Wilma	10,300	10,933
4	Aug. 13-14, 2004	FL, NC, SC	Charley	7,475	8,203
5	Sep. 15-21, 2004	AL, DE, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV	Ivan	7,110	7,803
6	Sep. 17-22, 1989	GA, NC, PR, SC, VA, U.S. Virgin Islands	Hugo	4,195	7,013
7	Sep. 20-26, 2005	AL, AR, FL, LA, MS, TN, TX	Rita	5,627	5,973
8	Sep. 3-9, 2004	FL, GA, NC, NY, SC	Frances	4,595	5,043
9	Sep. 15-29, 2004	DE, FL, GA, MD, NJ, NY, NC, PA, PR, SC, VA	Jeanne	3,655	4,011
10	Sept. 21-28, 1998	AL, FL, LA, MS, PR, U.S. Virgin Islands	Georges	2,955	3,758
11	Oct. 4, 1995	FL, AL, GA, NC, SC, TN	Opal	2,100	2,856
12	Sep. 14-17, 1999	NC, NJ, VA, FL, SC, PA, 10 other states	Floyd	1,960	2,439
13	Sep. 11, 1992	Kaui and Oahu, HI	Iniki	1,600	2,364
14	Sep. 5, 1996	NC, SC, VA, MD, WV, PA, OH	Fran	1,600	2,114
15	Sep. 15-16, 1995	PR, U.S. Virgin Islands	Marilyn	875	1,190
(1) Property coverage only. (2) Adjusted to 2007 dollars by the Insurance Information Institute. Source: ISO's Property Claim Services Unit; Insurance Information Institute.

LEADING STATES IN COASTAL POPULATION GROWTH, 1980-2003 (1)

Rank	State	By change in number (millions of people)	Rank	State	By percent change
1	California	9.9	1	Florida	75%
2	Florida	7.1	2	Alaska	63
3	Texas	2.5	3	Washington	54
4	Washington	1.7	4	Texas	52
5	Virginia	1.6	5	Virginia	48
6	New York	1.6	6	California	47
7	New Jersey	1.2	7	New Hampshire	46
8	Maryland	1.2	8	Delaware	38
9	Michigan	0.8	9	Georgia	35
10	Massachusetts	0.7	10	South Carolina	33
(1) Includes coastal states in the Northeast, Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific and Great Lakes regions. Note: Latest data available. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau.

In 2003, 53 percent of the nation’s population, or 153 million people, lived in the 673 U.S. coastal counties, an increase of 33 million people since 1980, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. Coastal counties account for 17 percent of U.S. land area.
California led in the states in coastal population
change from 1980-2003, increasing by 9.9 million people, or over twice the growth of any other state (with the exception of Florida). This represents an increase of 1,179 persons every day in California’s coastal areas, according to a NOAA study.
The number of people living in Florida coastal regions increased by 75 percent from 1980-2003, the highest percentage change in the study.

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
All States Above	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 billion, or 17 percent of the insured value of properties in all states.
Despite the recent weakening of the real estate market in many areas, AIR says the insured value—or the cost to rebuild properties—has maintained an annual growth rate that will lead to a doubling of total value every decade.
The percentage of homes that are underinsured fluctuated from 73 percent in 2002 to 58 percent in 2006 to 66 percent in 2007, according to a Marshall & Swift/Boechk survey. Homes were undervalued by an average of 18 percent in 2007, down from 21 percent in 2006 and 35 percent in 2002.

HOMEOWNERS - LEADING WRITERS BY STATE (2007)

Click on the link below to download an Excel file of the leading writers of homeowners insurance by state:

Download/View File: Excel File: Leading Writers of Homeowners (33 K)

COMMERCIAL - LEADING WRITERS BY STATE (2007)

Click on the link below to download an Excel file of the leading writers of commercial insurance by state:

Download/View File: Excel File: Leading Writers of Commercial Multiple Peril (Non-liability) (33 K)

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