HURRICANE BACKGROUNDER: CLAIMS AND PROPERTY LOSS INFORMATION

 

JERSEY CITY, N.J., June 1 ¾  Back-to-back devastating hurricanes in the last two years battered the U.S., claiming lives, destroying property and uprooting thousands from their homes to seek temporary shelters. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts an active hurricane season in 2006, with 13 to 16 tropical storms forming over the Atlantic Ocean. Ten of these could become hurricanes. Dr. William Gray, noted meteorologist at Colorado State University, is predicting that 17 named storms will form this year, compared with 28 last year.

The hurricane season, which officially begins today and runs through the end of November, exposes tens of millions of people living along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast to property losses from hurricanes and tropical storms.

The attached fact sheet is a useful source of background material for your coverage of natural disasters in the coming months. The information is compiled from ISO’s Property Claim Services (PCS) database on property losses for natural and man-made disasters. 

The fact sheet highlights significant information on past catastrophic events, including hurricanes, and the cost of insured property damage those events produced. ISO spokespeople are available to provide estimates and analyses of catastrophe losses.

AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR), ISO’s catastrophe modeling subsidiary, can also assist you in your coverage of hurricanes and other catastrophes. Using sophisticated computer models, AIR provides insured property loss estimates to the media in the immediate aftermath of a landfalling hurricane. Additionally, AIR’s scientists, engineers and catastrophe risk experts are available to comment on the impact of hurricanes throughout the season.  Contact Michael Gannon at (617) 954-1857 or mgannon@air-worldwide.com. 

 

About Property Claim Services

PCS, a unit of ISO, is recognized around the world as the property/casualty industry’s authority on catastrophe information services. For more than 50 years, PCS has been responsible for identifying and estimating insured property damage from catastrophes in the U.S. PCS’s identification of events as catastrophes provides primary insurers and reinsurers worldwide with a way to segregate property losses that may be subject to reinsurance coverage.

 

About AIR Worldwide Corporation

 

AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) is a leading risk modeling company helping clients manage the financial impact of catastrophes and weather. Utilizing the latest science and technology, AIR models natural catastrophes in more than 40 countries and the risk from terrorism in the United States. Other areas of expertise include site-specific seismic engineering analysis, catastrophe bonds and property replacement cost valuation. A member of the ISO family of companies, AIR was founded in 1987 to provide its insurance, reinsurance, corporate and government clients a complete line of risk modeling software and consulting services that produce consistent and reliable results. Headquartered in Boston, AIR has additional offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com.

 

About ISO

 

ISO is a leading provider of products and services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. ISO provides data, analytics and decision-support solutions to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government and human resources. Clients use ISO’s databases and services to classify and evaluate a variety of risks and detect potential fraud. In the U.S. and around the world, ISO’s services help customers protect people, property and financial assets.

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please see attached fact sheet.

 

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PROPERTY CLAIM SERVICES: CATASTROPHE FACT SHEET

 

  • Top 10 Hurricanes and Estimated Insured Loss (adjusted to 2005 $$):

 

Year                   Event                              Insured Loss

 

2005                    Katrina                            $38.1 billion

1992                    Andrew                          $21.6 billion

2005                    Wilma                            $10.3 billion

2004                    Charley                           $  7.7 billion                   

2004                    Ivan                               $  7.4 billion

1989                    Hugo                             $  6.6 billion

2005                    Rita                               $  5.0 billion

2004                    Frances                         $  4.8 billion

2004                    Jeanne                          $  3.8 billion

1998                    Georges                        $  3.5 billion          

 

 

Note:  Due to the continual increase in the number and value of insured properties in coastal areas, the estimated loss from a recurrence of a historic hurricane would be considerably higher than the trended loss.

 

  • 10 Most Intense Hurricanes, Categories 5 and 4 (1900-2005) —

Measured by Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Disaster-Potential Scale

                                                                                            

Florida (Keys) - 1935                                     Category 5

Camille - 1969                                               Category 5

Andrew - 1992                                               Category 5

Texas (Galveston) - 1900                              Category 4

Louisiana (Grand Isle) - 1909                        Category 4

Louisiana (New Orleans) - 1915                   Category 4

Florida (Keys)/So. Texas - 1919                   Category 4

Florida - 1928                                                 Category 4

Charley – 2004                                               Category 4

Ivan – 2004                                                     Category 4

 

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Disaster-Potential Scale classifies hurricanes on their intensity and damage potential under five categories, with Categories 5, 4 and 3 being the most destructive. The scale does not measure insured property losses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • A Decade of Hurricane Losses (1996-2005) — Events and Estimated

Insured Losses (adjusted to 2005 $$):

 

Year                 Number of Hurricanes                 Insured Losses           

 

2005                     6                                         $53.7 billion

2004                     5                                         $23.7 billion

2003                     2                                         $  1.9 billion

2002                     1                                         $467 million

2001*                    0                                         $       ―

2000*                    0                                         $       ―

1999                      5                                        $  2.7 billion

1998                      2                                        $  4.0 billion    

1997                      1                                        $  73 million

1996                      3                                        $  2.3 billion

 

 

      * No wind event met the PCS catastrophe definition ¾ which is 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.

 

Note:  Due to the continual increase in the number and value of insured properties in coastal areas, the estimated loss from a recurrence of a historic hurricane would be considerably higher than the trended loss.

 

 

·         Top 10 Catastrophes and Estimated Insured Losses (adjusted to 2005 $$):

 

Hurricane Katrina – Aug. 2005                                                $38.1 billion

Hurricane Andrew – Aug. 1992                                               $21.6 billion

Terrorist attack (N.Y. and Va.) – Sept. 2001                           $20.7 billion*

Northridge (Calif.) earthquake – Jan. 1994                             $16.5 billion

Hurricane Wilma – Oct. 2005                                                 $10.3 billion

Hurricane Charley – Aug. 2004                                               $  7.7 billion

Hurricane Ivan – Sept. 2004                                                 $   7.4 billion

Hurricane Hugo – Sept. 1989                                                 $  6.6 billion

Hurricane Rita – Sept. 2005                                                   $  5.0 billion

Hurricane Jeanne – Sept. 2004                                            $  4.8 billion

 

* Net of workers compensation and general liability; insurers incurred fewer personal property claims than anticipated; doesn’t include life and health insurance.

 

Note:  Due to the continual increase in the number and value of insured properties in coastal areas, the estimated loss from a recurrence of a historic hurricane would be considerably higher than the trended loss.

 

 

 

 

  • A Decade of Catastrophes (1996-2005) — Events and

           Estimated Insured Losses (adjusted to 2005 $$)

 

 

Year                 Number of Events                        Insured Losses           

 

2005                     24                                        $58.7 billion

2004                     22                                        $28.4 billion

2003                     21                                        $13.7 billion             

2002                     25                                        $  6.4 billion

2001                     20                                        $29.3 billion

2000                     24                                        $  5.2 billion

1999                     27                                        $  9.8 billion

1998                     37                                        $12.1 billion   

1997                     25                                        $  3.2 billion

1996                     38                                        $  9.1 billion

 

 

Note:  Due to the continual increase in the number and value of insured properties in coastal areas, the estimated loss from a recurrence of a historic hurricane would be considerably higher than the trended loss.

 

 

 

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