storm surge News

Hurricane Florence Insured Losses Could Reach $4.6B

Hurricane Florence’s winds and storm surge caused $1.7 billion to $4.6 billion in insured losses along the U.S. Southeast coast, according to an estimate from Verisk Analytics Inc.’s catastrophe risk modeler AIR Worldwide. That doesn’t include the impact of record …

Hurricane Rating System Fails to Account for Deadly Rain

When meteorologists downgraded Hurricane Florence from a powerful Category 4 storm to a Category 2 and then a Category 1, Wayne Mills figured he could stick it out. He regrets it. The Neuse River, normally 150 feet away, lapped near …

Virginia Museum Workers Protect Valuable Collection From Florence

The Durand-Ruel sisters didn’t dress for hurricane season. The eldest had on a wide-brimmed hat, the kind one would take to a high-society garden party. Both wore white gowns that looked as though their sheerness would go transparent in a …

Storm Surges Are Most Costly, Dangerous Result of Hurricanes

Behold the awesome power of water. Already the ocean is swallowing beaches, roads and anything else in the way of Hurricane Florence‘s monstrous storm surge. Storm surges aren’t walls of water, like a tsunami, as commonly thought. Caused by a …

Florence Wind, Storm Surge Could Cause Between $3-$5B in Insured Losses

Torrential wind and storm surge from Hurricane Florence could cause between $3 – $5 billion in insured residential and commercial property losses, according to CoreLogic, a global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. The new estimate doesn’t include insured …

Commentary: Submerged Risks Haunt Low-Lying Airports

The sight of a flooded Kansai International Airport and 3,000 stranded people after Typhoon Jebi slammed into southern Japan this week should be a warning to the world’s infrastructure investors. Airports have been a highly rated asset class over the …

Tropical Storm Gordon Forecast to Strike Gulf Coast as a Hurricane

New Orleans is on edge and some offshore energy workers have been evacuated as Tropical Storm Gordon heads for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast. It’s expected to become a hurricane Tuesday, and threatens to spread flooding rains into the …

Counting Deaths After a Hurricane Difficult

How many people died in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria? It’s a question that has been debated since the powerful storm slammed into the island and devastated the U.S. territory last year. It’s also raised questions about how officials go …

CoreLogic: 6.9M Homes Face Hurricane Storm Surge Damage Risk, $1.6T in Potential Reconstruction Costs

More than 6.9 million homes along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts are at potential risk of damage from hurricane storm surge inundation with a total reconstruction cost value (RCV) of more than $1.6 trillion (Table 1), according to CoreLogic, a …

Chemical Firms Say Gulf Coast Needs $14B Storm Barrier

Chemical companies are pressing federal officials to spend billions of dollars on a coastal flood control system near Houston to protect petrochemical plants, oil refineries and shipping infrastructure from the next hurricane. The coastal spine, as the project is called, …