Natural Disasters and Insurance Risk

Weather-related risks in vulnerable areas have intensified. Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region southeast of Tallahassee in late September — about 20 miles from where Hurricane Idalia came ashore just 13 months prior. Helene, however, was a larger storm that maintained Category 4 status for a longer period of time, causing damages for a wide portion of the Southeastern United States. Nearly the entire Gulf Coast of Florida endured wind-related threats and substantial storm surge that caused water to inundate coastal communities and portions of higher-density markets like Tampa-St. Petersburg. The devastation stretched much further north after landfall, as areas in Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia endured immense rainfall, flash flooding, landslides and tornados. Destruction of public infrastructure, including major roadways, has isolated towns within the Appalachian Mountain region. Costs are still being assessed in the wake of the storm. Moody's Analytics' initial estimate put damages in the range of $20 billion to $34 billion, but that figure could grow as more details come to light. Helene was the fifth hurricane at Category 3 status or above to hit Florida since 2017, equal to the prior two decades' total of storms that made landfall at such magnitude.