Nationally, nearly 7.8 million single and multifamily homes with more than $2.3 trillion in combined reconstruction cost value (RCV) are at risk of storm surge, according to the CoreLogic 2022 Hurricane Report, which evaluated the storm surge and hurricane wind risk levels for both single-family and multifamily residences along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The report also identified a total of 33 million homes at moderate or greater risk from the damaging winds of a hurricane, with nearly $10.5 trillion in combined RCV. 

The report also noted that while homes are insured for damage from hurricane winds, flood insurance is not uniformly purchased by homeowners, indicating that up to 70% of the damages from flood to homes is uninsured.

This annual CoreLogic hurricane report identifies the number of single-family and multifamily residences at risk of hurricane damage from wind and flooding during the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season and the cost to rebuild after a hurricane strikes.

“These numbers—at a national and metropolitan level—show us the true scale of the problem at hand and explain why some metropolitan areas are more prone to risk than others," the report said.

Earlier this month, scientists at Colorado State University forecasted another above-average hurricane season for 2022, which officially began on June 1. They predicted at least 19 named storms and nine hurricanes for the 2022 hurricane season and four of the hurricanes will be Category 3 or higher. An average season is considered 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

At the state level, Florida, Louisiana and Texas have the greatest number of homes at risk of storm surge damage, according to the report, with more than three million; nearly 911,000; and more than 542,000 homes at risk, respectively. Texas tops the list for hurricane wind risk with more than 8.8 million homes at risk.

Meanwhile, the New York City metro area has the greatest risk, with nearly 900,000 homes with more than $433 billion in RCV at risk of storm surge damage and more than four million homes with more than $2.2 trillion in RCV at risk of wind damage. Additionally, the Miami metro area has nearly 770,000 homes with nearly $193 billion in RCV at risk of storm surge damage and more than two million homes with more than $521 billion in RCV at risk of wind damage.

The 2021 Hurricane season included 21 named storms and was the 3rd most active season on record. It resulted in $80 billion in damages and was the 3rd costliest season on record, behind only 2005 and 2017. It was also the 7th consecutive season that a hurricane struck before the beginning of the official season.

“The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season provides a good starting point for discussing the impact of hurricanes on communities because it continued several trends," the report said, referencing the financial trauma caused by CAT-events such as Hurricane Ida last year where the transition rate from current-to-30-day mortgage delinquency, which had been running at about 1% per month, spiked to over 7% in the Houma metro area in Louisiana during the month following the storm.

Additionally, as hurricane frequency and severity increase in the coming years, the catastrophic loss restoration business will be challenged to meet the growing need for workers in resource management, financial risk mitigation, workflow standards, and management of legal risks.

 Will Jones is IA editor-in-chief.