Almost 33 Million Residential Properties At Risk As Hurricane Season Looms, Texas Reels
More than 32.7 million residential properties from Texas to Maine are at risk of moderate to severe damage from hurricane-force winds during the coming hurricane season, according to a new report — equal to a total possible reconstruction cost of $10.8T.
The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1, kicking off the period where these storms are most likely to form in the North Atlantic ocean. And the upcoming hurricane season is expected to be active, according to a 2024 Hurricane Risk Report from CoreLogic.
“With the potential for an active hurricane season on the horizon, insurers and homeowners should do everything they can to prepare and mitigate as much risk as possible,” said Maiclaire Bolton Smith, CoreLogic’s vice president of hazard and risk management, in a press release.
The New York metro area has over 3.7 million residential properties at risk, while Miami and Houston each have over 2 million residential properties in danger, according to CoreLogic. Houston and Dallas have already been hit with significant storm damage ahead of the season. Both metros were smacked by hurricane-force winds in the past two weeks.
A derecho in Houston on May 16 shattered more than 2,500 windows in the city's downtown, and the storm could level an economic toll of up to $7B, according to an AccuWeather estimate. The storm wreaked havoc, toppling trees and transmission towers and exposing wet interiors that then baked in 90-degree heat for days, Bisnow reported.
Earlier this week, severe thunderstorms pummeled Dallas-Fort Worth, with winds recorded at up to 80 mph and baseball-sized hail breaking windows and collapsing roofs. The storms left more than 800,000 residents without power by midday on Tuesday.
On the West Coast, La Niña conditions are expected to return to the Pacific Ocean this summer. In addition, record high sea surface temperatures are expected to generate significant activity from coast to coast, according to the CoreLogic report.
