Hurricane Charley 2nd worst natural disaster in history

[JTD]

This is an old article but just posted on the drudge report now. Here it is:

Saturday, August 14, 2004 - Damage inflicted by Hurricane Charley as it ripped across the midsection of Florida on Friday and early Saturday could exceed $20 billion dollars, making it one of the most costly storms in history, economic analysts said.

Karen Clark, the chief executive of AIR Worldwide, a Boston firm that provides damage assessments for insurance companies, said some of the most severe destruction came from surging seas sweeping across the barrier islands and beaches of Florida's Gulf Coast in the vicinity of Punta Gorda as the hurricane first made landfall.

But Clark and field representatives of insurance companies said Orlando, with its glistening downtown office towers, Walt Disney World and other huge theme parks, was also hit hard even though the storm's gusts were diminishing as it moved through the center of the state and skimmed past Daytona Beach on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

"We have a swath of damage across the state," she said. "Lee and Charlotte Counties on the west coast were the hardest hit. But the damage in Orlando is also significant."

Hundreds of house trailers were destroyed in Port Charlotte and surrounding Charlotte County, said Loretta Worters, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, who is monitoring developments from New York for her trade group. She said government buildings in the county suffered heavy damage and that there were reports Saturday morning that fires had broken out in the ruins of some houses near the town of Arcadia in Desoto County. She said that a hospital in Arcadia was badly damaged and that the Turner Agri-Civic Center there, where concerts and sports events have been held, was destroyed.

The hurricane weakened moving into the Carolinas, and Clark estimated that it might cause several hundred million more in damages there and farther up the coast. Hurricane Charley may be the second-most devastating storm in modern times after Hurricane Andrew, which battered South Florida in 1992 at a cost of more than $25 billion.

RMS, a California company that also assesses storm damage for insurance companies, estimated late Friday that the cost of Hurricane Charley to insurers would be about $5 billion.

A much smaller portion of the damage of Hurricane Charley will be covered by insurance than with Hurricane Andrew, industry experts said, because flooding, for which most people do not have coverage, has been more extensive in this storm and also because the insurance industry has shifted a significant portion of hurricane damage costs to individual homeowners, businesses and state government.

Clark estimated losses to the insurance industry could be $6 billion to $10 billion in Florida. That compares with $15.5 billion in insured losses in Hurricane Andrew, which in today's dollars would come to about $20 billion.

"The biggest losses are going to be from storm surges," Clark said. Standard insurance policies on homes and businesses do not offer protection from flooding, and only one in four homeowners in the most likely flood areas buys the limited coverage that is provided by the federal government. But Floridians have been the most willing buyers of flood insurance. Forty percent of the 4.5 million flood insurance policies in America have been sold there.

The federal government started providing flood insurance years ago after commercial insurers refused to do so, saying the only likely customers would be people who expected to suffer a loss. In such a situation, the insurers would lose the ability to spread their costs over a wide range of customers, many of whom would have no losses. When losses occurred in a larger group, they would be somewhat random.

But the insurance industry began working hard to limit coverage and cut potential losses after the stunning expenses of Hurricane Andrew, which temporarily staggered some of the giants like State Farm and Allstate and drove some smaller insurers out of business.

Now all the initial costs of a hurricane must be borne by customers along the Atlantic and Gulf Seaboard. In that huge sweep of territory, the insurers have begun imposing deductibles of one to five percent on policyholders in place of the widespread deductible of $500 that most homeowners in America choose. The result is that the owner of a $100,000 home with a 5 percent deductible pays the first $5,000 in losses rather than $500.

In many cases, the insurers also have stopped covering hurricane damage along the coasts and, instead, managed to transfer the risky business to state funds. The fund in Florida charges relatively high premiums for limited coverage.

In Florida, the state has also established a fund of $15 billion, partly through contributions from the insurance companies, that is intended to pay most of the insured losses over $4.5 billion. As dawn broke Saturday in Florida, hundreds of claims adjusters were making their way through the wreckage of the state, beginning detailed assessments of the damage and handing out checks for thousands of dollars to their customers for temporary living expenses and emergency repairs.

They produced some of the earliest accounts of Charley's fierce handiwork.

"It looks bad," said Chris Neal, a spokesman for State Farm who rode out the storm in his five-bedroom ranch house in Winter Haven with his wife, Laura, a claims adjuster, and their daughter, Morgan, 4, who dressed up for the event in her favorite costume, the kind of clothes worn by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

"There is very significant damage in Winter Haven," Neal said on Saturday. "We haven't had electricity since seven o'clock last night. There are lots of roofs blown off, street signs and traffic lights down. I drove past a 7-Eleven this morning and all the signs were down and the canopy over the gas pumps had collapsed. There are a lot of trees down. They can do the most significant damage."

In Winter Haven and other central Florida towns, Neal said, most people did not have storm shutters nor did they cover their windows with sheets of plywood as south Floridians usually do when they hear a hurricane is coming. For one thing, hurricanes do not normally chop through the center of the state the way Hurricane Charley did. And, for another, like so many previous storms it did not follow its predicted route.

[MGC]

What? How about the thousands dead in the Galveston hurricane? Adjusted for inflation Charley won't come close to Andrew....MGC

[Guest]

How about the dinosaurs???

[Aimless]

perhaps most expensive, but not the worst

[bahamaswx]

US history**

[HurricaneBill]

Actually, if total damages are adjusted to inflation, I think the 1926 Miami hurricane would be #1. I think it'd be $80 billion or something.

[DCA]

nm

[Storminole]

Is the most severe damage from this storm really from storm surge? From the images of damage that I've seen, I'm not inclined to believe that such was the case.

With Andrew, the storm surge wasn't the real destructive force because the storm was fairly compact and tightly wound, and even more so because of the fast forward speed of the storm. Charley was even more tightly wound and definitely had a forward speed in excess of Andrew's. Charley's blazing forward speed might even be a record for those lower latitudes in August.

From the images I've seen, my impression is that that even in the immediate coastal areas the shrieking Cat 4 winds caused billions more in damage than the storm surge did. I think Charley was moving too fast to gather much water before it moved on. While water did appear to cover the barrier islands, I don't think it had time to attain any depth.

Nothing like the surge that Hugo unleashed. So I just wonder if this insurance rep assessment--made the day after the storm by someone not at the scene--will hold up. I think virtually all of the "most severe damange" was due to wind.

[Mattie]

for floods caused by hurricanes. Come on folks. . . those island areas that are prone to ANY type of flooding - sure - they know the risk when they built here. Those in central Florida? - the only thing that comes to mind is the woman newscaster on 9/11 when she said "OMFG". . . (and I don't swear).

Last night I took a look at an article where Texas insurance companies are refunding 8-12% premiums to the policy holders due to over charging. This was with 29 companies that write in Texas. Oh, Ok - it amounts to about $100 for me to which they will pay on next year's policy - AFTER they again raise the rates to cover the payments.

I know this is not an "insurance complaint site", but again - looking for that article that I read last night I ran across another ABSURD article from March 2004 -

News Release Date:3/31/2004
Texas Holocaust Survivors to Receive Humanitarian Payments
Category:Holocaust



AUSTIN - The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) will begin mailing out $16 million in humanitarian payments to Holocaust survivors and their heirs this week. The payments are being made to those who believe they had an insurance policy in force during the Holocaust, but are now unable to identify the particular insurance company. The payments are a financial acknowledgment that their families may have held Holocaust-era insurance policies for which they never received payment or compensation.

Claims from approximately 16,000 Holocaust survivors from 60 countries around the world were evaluated and approved for the $1,000 payments. Ninety-one of those due to receive compensation are Texas residents. The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) worked closely. . .

Ok already!!! These people haven't suffered damages recently and that $16 million could well be put toward the rebuilding of homes and buildings in the PRESENT. These heirs, etc. aren't counting on this money to survive! They haven't had it in how many years????????? And as above "MAY" have held Holocaust-era insurance polices. What are the odds that if we fell through the cracks and our policies were somehow "lost", "misplaced", "destroyed" and all type of records from the insurance company could not locate our "policy information" - do you think we would get paid because we "MAY" have had a policy???

Sorry for the ranting and raving - but I know how desparate I would be for help when I have paid an outrageous insurance premium on my dwelling and for them to turn around and say "oops" - "we don't cover that any longer". These senior citizens, or a good majority of them, are NOT aware of the dangers of living in Florida and the need to be guided into making the right decisions to protect themselves, their home and other property. And, on the other hand, some may not be able to afford coverage. That whole issue lends itself to another discussion . . .

But bottom line - the insurance industry stinks. (A moderator may delete this post - and it will be fine - I just had to get it off my chest and out the ends of my fingers).

[GalvestonDuck]

Hurricane Charley may be the second-most devastating storm in modern times after Hurricane Andrew, which battered South Florida in 1992 at a cost of more than $25 billion.

Poorly worded, IMO.

Second COSTLIEST storm in UNITED STATES history...maybe.

Second most devastating hurricane? No.
Sept. 6–20, 1928 -- Lake Okeechobee, southeast Fla.: 1,836 deaths. Second-deadliest U.S. hurricane on record.


Worst natural disaster in world history? Ask Noah.

[Stormsfury]

Actually, if total damages are adjusted to inflation, I think the 1926 Miami hurricane would be #1. I think it'd be $80 billion or something.

A recent adjustment takes it to $93.6 billion, up from 88.7 billion two years ago ...

[HurricaneBill]

Actually, if total damages are adjusted to inflation, I think the 1926 Miami hurricane would be #1. I think it'd be $80 billion or something.

A recent adjustment takes it to $93.6 billion, up from 88.7 billion two years ago ...

Well, at least Andrew had the decency to edge to the south instead of striking Miami head on.

[7635]

hugo came by this area many years ago.we have alot of woods fire that are bigger because of the "hugo blow down " that is what the nc forestry service tells us.so it take many years to see how much a hurricane will cost.i live in the foothills of north carolina and that a good ways from the coast.