Facts + Statistics: Hurricanes

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The official Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November, but occasionally storms form outside those months. Seasonal hurricane forecasting from Colorado State University is available here.

A tropical cyclone is a rotating low-pressure weather system that has organized thunderstorms but no fronts, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones which have sustained winds of 74 mph. At this point a hurricane reaches Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which has a range of 1 to 5, based on the hurricane's intensity at the time of landfall at the location experiencing the strongest winds. The scale provides examples of the type of damage and impacts in the United States associated with winds of the indicated intensity. It does not address the potential for other hurricane-related phenomena such as storm surge, rainfall-induced floods and tornadoes.

 
Costliest U.S. Hurricanes

The chart below shows insured losses in dollars for the top 10 costliest hurricanes in the United States when they occurred and in 2021 dollars, adjusted for inflation. According to Aon, Katrina was the costliest hurricane on record, causing $65 billion in insured losses when it occurred in 2005, including losses from the NFIP. Losses from Katrina totaled $89.7 billion in 2021 dollars.

 
Top 10 Costliest Hurricanes In The United States (1)

($ millions)

      Estimated insured loss
Rank Year Hurricane Dollars when occurred In 2021 dollars (2)
1 2005 Hurricane Katrina $65,000 $89,680
2 2021 Hurricane Ida 36,000 36,000
3 2012 Hurricane Sandy 30,000 35,140
4 2017 Hurricane Harvey 30,000 33,110
5 2017 Hurricane Irma 30,100 33,000
6 2017 Hurricane Maria 29,500 32,400
7 1992 Hurricane Andrew 16,000 30,770
8 2008 Hurricane Ike 18,200 22,540
9 2005 Hurricane Wilma 10,670 14,510
10 2018 Hurricane Michael 13,250 14,200

(1) Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program. Includes hurricanes that occurred through 2021. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of February 2, 2022. Ranked on insured losses in 2021 dollars.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. Consumer Price Index.

Source: Aon.

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Hurricanes And Related Deaths In The United States, 2000-2021

 

Year Total
hurricanes (1)		 Made landfall
as hurricane
in the U.S.		 Deaths (2)
2000 8 0 4
2005 15 5 1,408
2006 5 0 0
2007 6 1 1
2008 8 4 (3) 41
2009 3 1 (4) 6
2010 12 0 11
2011 7 1 44
2012 10 1 (5) 83
2013 2 0 1
2014 6 1 2
2015 4 0 3
2016 7 3 36
2017 10 4 147
2018 8 2 48
2019 6 2 15 (6)
2020 13 6 47
2021 7 4 68

(1) Atlantic Basin.
(2) Includes fatalities from high winds of less than hurricane force from tropical storms.
(3) Includes one hurricane (Hanna) which made landfall as a tropical storm.
(4) Hurricane Ida, which made landfall as a tropical storm.
(5) Excludes Hurricane Sandy which made landfall as a post-tropical storm.
(6) All fatalities in 2019 are from storms that did not make landfall in the United States.

Source: Insurance Information Institute from data supplied by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Hurricane Center.

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Top 10 Most Significant Flood Events By National Flood Insurance Program Payouts (1)

 

Rank Date Event Number of
paid losses		 Amount paid
($ millions)		 Average
paid loss
1 Aug. 2005 Hurricane Katrina 168,256 $16,092  $95,640 
2 Sep. 2017 Hurricane Harvey 78,254 9,171 117,192
3 Oct. 2012 Superstorm Sandy 132,897 8,619 64,852
4 Sep. 2008 Hurricane Ike 47,247 2,670 56,517
5 Aug. 2016 Louisiana severe storms and flooding 27,737 2,536 91,432
6 Sep. 2004 Hurricane Ivan 31,981 1,688 52,791
7 Sep. 2021 Hurricane Ida 28,544 1,589 55,658
8 Sep. 2004 Hurricane Jeanne 31,486 1,513 48,062
9 Aug. 2011 Hurricane Irene 44,178 1,321 29,894
10 Sep. 2017 Hurricane Irma 23,119 1,153 49,884

(1) Includes events from 1978 to December 31, 2021 as of March 9, 2022. Defined by the National Flood Insurance Program as an event that produces at least 1,500 paid losses. Stated in dollars when occurred.

Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data; analysis courtesy of Aon.

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U.S. Storm Surge Risk, Gulf and Atlantic States, 2022

 

  Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1)		 Multi-family residential
homes potentially affected (2)
Storm surge risk level (3)
(Storm category)		 Number of units Number of units
Category 1 1,281,273 40,426
Category 2 2,741,505 94,745
Category 3 4,436,484 156,948
Category 4 6,419,157 234,200
Category 5 7,527,853 258,821

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from Category 1 to Category 5. Category 1 represents the higher risk of damage from a weak hurricane; Category 5 includes Categories 1 to 4 and the low risk of damage from a Category 5 hurricane.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company. May not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source without prior written permission from CoreLogic.

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U.S. Hurricane Wind Risk, Gulf and Atlantic States, 2022

 

  Single-family residential
homes potentially affected (1)		 Multifamily residential
homes potentially affected (2)
Hurricane wind risk level (3) Number of units Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions)		 Number of units Reconstruction
cost value (4)
($ billions)
Extreme 6,316,115 $1,645.9 122,087 $42.1
Very high or greater 14,654,510 $4,024.0 229,077 $85.0
High or greater 22,113,248 $6,697.8 647,060 $327.4
Moderate or greater 31,792,966 $9,976.6 987,727 $519.5

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.
(3) The risk categories are cumulative and increase in value from extreme to moderate or greater. The moderate or greater wind risk level encompasses all four wind risk levels."
(4) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.

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Top 15 Metropolitan Areas At Risk for Storm Surge and Hurricane Wind, 2022

 

  Single-family (1)
    At risk for storm surge     At risk for hurricane wind
Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)		 Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)
1  New York, NY 786,279 $369.9 1  New York, NY 3,814,468 $1,945.5
2 Miami, FL 740,744 183.9 2 Houston, TX 2,032,661 619.8
3 Tampa, FL 555,474 125.9 3 Miami, FL 2,009,913 501.1
4 New Orleans, LA 405,369 124.3 4 Philadelphia, PA 1,924,785 762.9
5 Virginia Beach, VA 397,947 120.1 5 Washington, DC 1,753,336 628.5
6 Cape Coral, FL 330,465 84.4 6 Boston, MA 1,303,433 555.5
7 North Port, FL 293,538 73.4 7 Tampa, FL 1,116,079 275.5
8 Houston, TX 264,461 71.0 8 Baltimore, MD 910,522 283.0
9 Naples, FL 200,276 55.4 9 Virginia Beach, VA 580,825 177.5
10 Jacksonville, FL 194,583 55.4 10 Jacksonville, FL 566,825 157.0
11 Charleston, SC 188,329 61.5 11 Providence, RI 474,328 176.0
12 Myrtle Beach, SC 183,757 41.9 12 Richmond, VA 452,639 150.4
13 Lafayette, LA 148,646 37.1 13 New Orleans, LA 435,865 133.9
14 Baton Rouge, LA 141,932 40.8 14 North Port, FL 386,689 102.0
15 Salisbury, MA 136,220 39.3 15 Hartford, CT 380,080 143.4
  Multi-family (3)
    At risk for storm surge     At risk for hurricane wind
Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)		 Rank (2) Metropolitan area Number Reconstruction
cost value (2)
($ billions)
1  New York, NY 109,317 $62.8 1  New York, NY 459,184 $261.8
2 Miami, FL 28,645 8.7 2 Washington, DC 100,532 24.8
3 Boston, MA 26,640 12.6 3 Boston, MA 82,249 55.7
4 Tampa, FL 14,271 4.9 4 Miami, FL 61,467 20.1
5 Cape Coral, FL 13,726 4.1 5 Philadelphia, PA 59,237 34.3
6 New Orlean, LA 6,626 4.4 6 Providence, RI 33,577 24.6
7 Savannah, GA 4,470 2.2 7 Tampa, FL 26,324 8.7
8 Virginia Beach, VA 4,286 1.8 8 Houston, TX 18,092 6.2
9 Jacksonville, FL 4,219 1.8 9 Cape Coral, FL 14,579 4.3
10 Philadelphia, PA 3,449 1.5 10 Portland, ME 14,370 6.2
11 Deltona, FL 3,378 1.0 11 Baltimore, MD 12,340 4.1
12 North Port, FL 3,330 1.1 12 Hartford, CT 11,308 9.2
13 Providence, RI 2,775 2.0 13 New Haven, CT 10,943 7.6
14 Naples, FL 2,498 1.0 14 Jacksonville, FL 8,602 3.5
15 Baltimore, MD 2,126 0.5 15 Bridgeport, CT 7,733 6.0

(1) Residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins.
(2) Combines materials, equipment and labor, but does not include the value of the land or lot.
(3) Apartments, condominiums and multi-unit dwellings.

Source: CoreLogic®, a property data and analytics company.

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