- 155 million people live and work in U.S. coastal counties. That means about one of every two Americans resides within 50 miles of our shores.
- Every day, 3,500 people move to coastal communities along the more than 12,000 miles of the nation’s coastline.
- In 10 years, 12 million more people will be living on the coast.
- One out of every six retirees settles in Florida.
- It is estimated that Florida and New York each has approximately $2 trillion of insured value in coastal areas.
- Of the 10 hurricanes that made landfall in the United States in 2004 and 2005, seven were among the most costly ever.
- Katrina resulted in the single largest industry-insured loss to date at approximately $40 billion.
- Between 1926 and 1944, four major hurricanes (none greater than a category 4) resulted in significant loss. Today, those storms would cause estimated insured losses totaling $220 billion. And that’s not including each event’s considerable uninsured losses and the broader economic impact.
- In 1926, a South Florida hurricane, the so-called Category 4 “Big Blow,” hit downtown Miami, killing 372 people. At the time, the population of Dade and Broward counties was 135,000. Today, it’s about 4 million. If the 1926 South Florida hurricane struck today, it’s estimated that insured losses alone could hit $100 billion.
- The New England Hurricane of 1938, also known as the Long Island Express, killed 680 people and caused insurance losses of $23.5 billion in current dollars. If a similar hurricane hit today and tracked just 50 miles to the west and hit New York City, the most densely populated city in the U.S. with over 8 million residents, the devastation would be unimaginable.