AUGUST 2016
The vast majority of the 40 tropical systems that have impacted the New England region over the past century have struck during the months of August and September, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS).
- Several New England states suffered property damage from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Sandy caused $18.75 billion in U.S. property losses, excluding flood insurance claims covered by the federal flood insurance program, according to estimates from ISO’s PCS unit. Sandy was the third most costly U.S. hurricane, after hurricanes Katrina and Andrew.
- Private insurers paid claims for property damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in Connecticut ($510 million); Massachusetts ($210 million); Rhode Island ($103 million); New Hampshire ($55 million); Maine ($37 million); and Vermont ($13 million).
- The New England states were heavily impacted by Hurricane Irene in August, 2011. Irene impacted a total of 14 states, causing a total of $4.3 billion in insured property damage, not including flood losses covered under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), according to ISO. The NFIP puts its claims payouts from Irene at $1.3 billion (in all states).
- The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was one of the costliest storms to hit the area. This Category 5 hurricane, which is also known as “The Long Island Express”, was first detected in the Tropical Atlantic. The hurricane, which made landfall as a Category 3 storm during high tide along Long Island, New York and the Connecticut coast, caused extensive damage to those states as well as to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The storm caused 600 deaths, 1,700 injuries and over $400 million in damages, according to EOPSS. An analysis by AIR Worldwide estimates that the storm would have caused $33 billion in insurance damages had it occurred under present conditions.
- Another major storm to hit the region, 1960’s Hurricane Donna, hit Florida, the Mid-Atlantic States and New England, causing a total of $500 million in damages. Other notable hurricanes include Hurricane Gloria, which pummeled the New England Coast in 1985 causing $900 million in damages, and 1991’s Hurricane Bob, which caused $1 billion in damages in Southern New England, according to EOPOSS.
- Standard homeowners policies typically do not cover flood damage. Flood insurance is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program. The number of flood insurance policies in coastal New England states in 2015 ranged from 4,096 in Vermont to 63,714 in Massachusetts. Connecticut had 40,660, Rhode Island had 15,103, and New Hampshire had 8,862.
- Population growth from 2010 to 2015 in coastal New England counties ranged from 3.6 percent in Massachusetts to 1.6 percent in New Hampshire, 0.3 percent in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and 0.4 percent in Maine, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Exposure to loss under the Massachusetts Property Underwriting Insurance Association (MPIUA) increased to $80.8 billion in fiscal year 2015 from $4.1 billion in 1990. The MPIUA’s policy count surged to 216,142 policies (habitational and commercial) in fiscal year 2014 from 49,628 in 1990.
- Rhode Island has a residual market plan that acts as markets of last resort for residential and commercial property insurance in the state. The Rhode Island Joint Reinsurance Association (RIJRA) was formed in 1968. The RIJRA’s policy count totaled 17,628 in fiscal year 2015, up from 6,777 in 1990. Exposure to loss under the plan increased to $4.4 billion in fiscal year 2015 from $409 million in 1990.
- The Connecticut FAIR Plan was also established in 1968. The FAIR Plan administers the state’s Coastal Market Assistance Program (C-MAP). C-MAP was created by insurers in the state to assist homeowners living in Connecticut coastal areas who have been unable to obtain insurance. The FAIR Plan had $487 million in exposure in fiscal year 2015, down from $533 million in 2014. Total policies in the plan amounted to 2,618 in 2015, down from 2,882 in 2014.
Other Resources
I.I.I. Facts & Stats: Hurricanes
I.I.I. Issues Updates: Catastrophes
I.I.I. Issues Updates: Hurricane and Windstorm Deductibles
