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Fact file: Mississippi hurricane insurance

June 2020 The costliest Mississippi hurricane in recent years was Hurricane Katrina, which caused nearly $14 billion in insured losses in the state in 2005 (about $18.3 billion in 2019 dollars). These loss statistics do not include flood damage covered under the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Standard homeowners policies typically do not […]

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June 2020

The costliest Mississippi hurricane in recent years was Hurricane Katrina, which caused nearly $14 billion in insured losses in the state in 2005 (about $18.3 billion in 2019 dollars). These loss statistics do not include flood damage covered under the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Standard homeowners policies typically do not cover flood damage.
Hurricane Katrina was among the deadliest in Mississippi history, with more than 250 lives lost in the state alone.
Hurricane Katrina was the costliest hurricane to hit the U.S. Mississippi was also severely impacted by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Hurricane Katrina resulted in $2.5 billion in flood insurance losses in Mississippi paid by the NFIP.
There were 62,996 flood insurance policies covered under the NFIP in Mississippi in 2018, down from 64,372 in 2017.
The number of people living in coastal areas in Mississippi increased from 2010 to 2015 by 18,713 people or 2.9 percent to 648,360, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
In Mississippi, about 103,000 single-family homes were at risk in 2020 for storm surge damage from hurricanes up to Category 5 strength, according to CoreLogic, Inc. These homes would cost $20.5 billion to completely rebuild, including labor and materials.
The Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association (MWUA) was established by the state legislature in 1987 as a market of last resort to provide windstorm and hail insurance in the coastal areas of Mississippi. MWUA provides windstorm and hail coverage only in the coastal counties of George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, and Stone.
MWUA policies contain a hurricane deductible of 2 percent of the insured value of the home. The hurricane deductible is triggered by windstorm losses resulting from a named storm as declared by the National Hurricane Center of the National Weather Service and remains in effect until a tropical storm warning is over.
The MWUA had about 18,000 policies with an exposure of $2.8 billion in fiscal year 2019.