With this report from Ohio, even the Florida “plan” shown on the map clearly won’t reduce claims from hurricane windstorm damage.
Ohio insurers say losses from last month’s windstorm will rival those from the state’s costliest natural disaster of recent decades.
The 1974 tornado that devastated the western Ohio city of Xenia caused about $600 million in damage, according to the Ohio Insurance Institute.
The industry group says at least $553.1 million in insured losses were left by remnants of Hurricane Ike, which swept through the state on Sept. 14.
The institute says the windstorm is generating a record number of claims from Ohio home, vehicle and business owners. Twenty-four insurance companies that write policies in the state report they’ve received roughly 132,000 claims so far.
Insurers say most of the claims have come from the southern half of the state.
Related news from Oklahoma reports discouraging news for those that experienced flood damage during the September storms.
The White House ha denied Oklahoma’s Gov. Brad Henry’s request for flood assistance to aid individuals and businesses that were hard hit by September storms in northern Oklahoma.. A request for public assistance is still pending.
The governor had sought individual assistance for five counties: Alfalfa, Grant, Kay, Major and Woods. Such a disaster declaration would have provided federal aid to individuals and businesses that suffered uninsured losses because of flood waters.
“I am very disappointed that the White House has denied individual aid to flood victims in northern Oklahoma,” said Gov. Henry. “I thought we made a very strong case for federal support.
“We are also seeking public assistance to repair roads and other infrastructure in the region, and we will continue to push for that aid in the days to come.”
Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Texas, the Legislature is beginning to think about the next storm while dealing with the aftermath of Ike.
Texas House of Representatives Speaker Tom Craddick has created a House Select Committee on Hurricane Ike Storm Devastation to the Texas Gulf Coast.
The committee will be charged with reviewing the state and local government response to the hurricane and identifying issues for the legislature to address to prepare for future natural disasters and their aftermath.
One would think these stories alone show that we’re all in this together – and should all support Congressman Taylor’s effort to increase the effectiveness and coverage of the NFIP.
I don’t suppose that it was particularly severe on uninhabited sub-prime homes?
That is an insane amount of damage from the tail end wind of a hurricane: gusts of 70 miles per hour (?).
North Carolina gets smacked hard all the time and that would but it just below Hugo in cost. Even if you presume the following numbers are in nominal terms, that is a lot of damage.
http://www.ncdoi.com/Consumer/consumer_disaster_top10.asp
I guess there is going to be a lot of new cars in Cleveland.
I did a quick search after reading your comment – and though this was an interesting story.
The story has link to the Ohio Insurance Association.
Inland areas that do not regularly experience tropical storm force winds tend to suffer a lot of damage when they do get them. The coastal areas have mostly palm trees, live oaks, and other native trees that have evolved to survive storms. Inland trees with shallow roots and big crowns uproot rather easily after heavy rains saturate and soften the ground. Urban trees especially are vulnerable because their root systems often are constrained by concrete and asphalt. TS Isabel caused big trees to fall all over the DC area in 2003 even thought the winds did not exceed 60 mph. My daughter’s school was closed for almost a week until the power was restored.
I am not questioning that there is damage, just that the amount is so high.
The really big inland damage is typically from very wet hurricanes that dump a lot of water into hilly-mountainous areas. Hurricane Alice in the 1970s is probably the classic example.
A $700 million dollar 70 mph hurricane in Ohio is probably a better argument against National level insurance. An insurance mechanism will hard-couple the losses throughout the system rather then containing them to their area of origin.
Our current (non) system tends to fix the things that everyone else really wants (oil refineries), and put a band aid on the rest (FEMA).
It is similar to the current argument about dividing up the financial system into smaller pieces. The smaller pieces are more at risk, but they are less likely to collapse the whole system.