Facts + Statistics: U.S. catastrophes

2017 natural catastrophes

Insured losses due to natural disasters in the United States in 2017 totaled $78 billion, according to Munich Re, more than triple the $23.8 billion total for 2016. Tropical cyclones with $49.1 billion in losses accounted for 63 percent of U.S. insured losses in 2017. Severe thunderstorms losses, at $18.2 billion, accounted for about 23 percent of the 2017 insured losses. Wildfires, heat waves and drought produced $9.5 billion in insured losses in 2017, or about 12 percent of total. Winter storms and cold waves caused $1.2 billion in insured losses, and floods and flash floods accounted for $100 million in insured losses in 2017.

2017 natural and man-made catastrophes

Property Claim Services (PCS®), a Verisk Analytics® business, defines a catastrophe as an event that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a significant number of property/casualty (P/C) policyholders and insurers. PCS estimates represent anticipated insured losses from natural and man-made 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. P/C insurance industry catastrophes losses in the United States soared 370 percent to $101.9 billion from $21.7 billion in 2016, according to PCS. Insured losses in 2017 were the highest since PCS began collecting insured loss data in 1949. The number of catastrophes rose to 46 in 2017 from 42 in 2016, the highest number of catastrophes for years with an industry loss event threshold of $25 million.

Natural Catastrophe Losses In The United States, 2017

(Based on perils)

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Natural Catastrophe Losses In The United States, 2017

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Below are charts from Munich Re, which include flood insurance losses in its calculations. The reinsurer estimated insured natural catastrophe losses in the United States for 2016 at $23.8 billion.

Loss Events in the U.S. 1980-2017

(Number of relevant events by peril)

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Loss Events in the U.S. 1980-2017

(Overall and insured losses)

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Loss Events in the U.S. 1980-2017

(Overall losses: nominal, inflation adjusted, and normalized)

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Convective Storm Events* in the U.S. 1980-2017

(Overall and insured losses)

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Convective Storm Events* in the U.S. 1980-2017

(Overall losses: nominal, inflation adjusted, and normalized)

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Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in the U.S., 1980-2017

(Insured property losses per state)

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Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in the U.S., 1980-2017

(Overall losses: nominal, inflation adjusted, and normalized)

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Tropical Storm Events in the U.S., 1980 – 2017

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U.S., total catastrophes

The Property Claim Services (PCS) division of Verisk Analytics 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.

Estimated Insured Property Losses, U.S. Catastrophes, 2008-2017 (1)

Year	Number of catastrophes	Number of claims (millions)	Dollars when occurred ($ billions)	In 2017 dollars (2) ($ billions)
2008	36	4.1	$27.0	$31.0
2009	27	2.2	10.5	12.0
2010	33	2.4	14.3	16.1
2011	30	4.9	33.6	37.0
2012	26	4.0	35.0	37.7
2013	28	1.8	12.9	13.6
2014	31	2.1	15.5	16.1
2015	39	2.0	15.2	15.7
2016	42	3.0	21.7	22.1
2017	46	5.2	101.9	101.9

(1) Includes catastrophes causing insured property losses of at least $25 million in 1997 dollars and affecting a significant number of policyholders and insurers. Excludes losses covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program.
(2) Adjusted for inflation through 2017 by the Insurance Information Institute using the GDP implicit price deflator.

Source: Property Claim Services® (PCS® ), a unit of ISO® , a Verisk Analytics® company; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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The chart below shows insured losses for the top 10 U.S. catastrophes in dollars when they occurred and in 2018 dollars, adjusted for inflation. Insured losses for the catastrophic hurricanes of 2017—Maria, Irma and Harvey—are represented as a range because factors such as the severity of the losses and the fact that the storms happened in rapid succession, straining resources for the claim settlement process, have hindered the development of final estimates. Insurers have not closed the books on Irma’s insured losses in Florida because claims have been reopened, and business interruption losses for all three storms are still being settled. The Insurance Information Institute has developed the ranges after studying estimates from catastrophe modelers and other organizations, and plans to revisit the ranges mid-year 2019. To date, losses for 2018 Hurricanes Florence and Michael have not reached the level for inclusion in this chart.

Top 10 Costliest Catastrophes, United States (1)

($ millions)

				Estimated insured property loss
Rank	Date	Peril	Location	Dollars when occurred	In 2018 dollars (2)
1	Aug. 2005	Hurricane Katrina	AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, TN	$41,100	$51,882
2	Sep. 2017	Hurricane Maria (3)	PR, USVI	25,000-30,000	25,600-30,700
3	Sep. 2017	Hurricane Irma (3)	AL, FL, GA, NC, PR, SC, USVI	20,000-25,000	20,400-25,600
4	Sep. 2001	September 11: Fire, Explosion: World Trade Center, Pentagon terrorist attacks	NY, VA	18,779	25,958
5	Oct. 2012	Hurricane Sandy	CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV	18,750	20,688
6	Aug. 2017	Hurricane Harvey (3)	AL, LA, MS, NC, TN, TX	16,000-19,000	16,400-19,400
7	Aug. 1992	Hurricane Andrew	FL, LA	15,500	25,404
8	Jan. 1994	Northridge, CA earthquake	CA	12,500	19,595
9	Sep. 2008	Hurricane Ike	AR, IL, IN, KY, LA, MO, OH, PA, TX	12,500	14,631
10	Oct. 2005	Hurricane Wilma	FL	10,300	13,002

(1) Property losses only. Excludes flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program. Ranked on dollars when occurred. As of March 6, 2019.
(2) Adjusted for inflation through 2018 by the Insurance Information Institute using the GDP implicit price deflator.
(3) Insurance Information Institute estimate based on data from catastrophe risk modelers, reinsurance companies, the Property Claims Services unit of Verisk Analytics,
the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. These estimates are preliminary
because the organizations involved periodically resurvey the events, and the severity of losses and other factors create a high level of uncertainty surrounding the
ultimate loss figures.

Source: Insurance Information Institute, catastrophe risk modelers, reinsurance companies, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation,
the Property Claim Services® (PCS®) unit of ISO®, a Verisk Analytics® company, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Inflation-Adjusted U.S. Insured Catastrophe Losses By Cause Of Loss, 1997-2016 (1)

(2016 $ billions)

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(1) Adjusted for inflation through 2016 by ISO using the GDP implicit price deflator. Excludes catastrophes causing direct losses less than $25 million in 1997 dollars. Excludes flood damage covered by the federally administered National Flood Insurance Program.
(2) Includes other wind, hail, and/or flood losses associated with catastrophes involving tornadoes.
(3) Includes wildland fires.
(4) Includes losses from civil disorders, water damage, utility service disruptions, and any workers compensation catastrophes generating losses in excess of PCS's threshold after adjusting for inflation.

Source: The Property Claim Services® (PCS®) unit of ISO®, a Verisk Analytics® company.

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U.S. Insured Catastrophe Losses, 1989-2016

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2017 catastrophes

Puerto Rico had the costliest insured catastrophe losses in 2017, $26.9 billion, followed by Texas with $22.2 billion in losses. Florida ranked third in 2017 for insured catastrophe losses, with $16.5 billion, according to Property Claim Services®, a unit of ISO®, a Verisk Analytics® business.
Other states and territories with high insured catastrophe losses in 2017 were California, with $15.2 billion in losses, and the U.S. Virgin Islands with $5.0 billion in losses.

Top Seven States and Territories By Insured Catastrophe Losses, 2017 (1)

($ millions)

Rank	State/territory	Estimated insured loss	Number of claims
1	Puerto Rico	$26,894.3	560,900
2	Texas	22,229.9	1,136,750
3	Florida	16,469.5	1,177,050
4	California	15,209.2	173,650
5	U.S. Virgin Islands	5,009.8	47,300
6	Colorado	2,274.7	236,800
7	Minnesota	1,652.7	145,600