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‘Relentless’ Storm Season Puts 300,000 More Homes in Danger

hurricane vortex

hurricane vortexHundreds of thousands of homes are at risk of storm surge destruction by Hurricane Delta. That is based on information coming in Wednesday evening from the National Hurricane Center, which projected Category 2 status at landfall, and data from CoreLogic, a property data and analysis firm.

CoreLogic's Risk Analysis estimated 293,685 single-family and multifamily homes across Louisiana and the U.S. Gulf Coast with a reconstruction cost value (RCV) of approximately $62.85 billion are at potential risk from this hurricane. For many, the damage could compound storm-related devastation that not long ago struck the same region.

“After battering the Yucatán Peninsula near Cancún, Mexico, Hurricane Delta is headed for the Gulf Coast just weeks after Hurricane Laura brought significant wind and storm surge damage to the Texas and Louisiana coastlines,” said Curtis McDonald, meteorologist and senior product manager of CoreLogic. “Residents in these coastal areas are already trying to recover from their losses and are now faced with a second substantial storm. This season has been relentless, and Louisianans should be prepared for the long recovery road ahead.”

Note: This is a swiftly changing forecast. As it nears the Gulf, Delta's trajectory will become more clear, narrowing the potential areas of impact.

CoreLogic will provide up-to-date storm surge exposure estimates at hazardhq.com [1].

At time of publication, CoreLogic had reported that the primary threats as Hurricane Delta makes landfall in central Louisiana will be storm surge and damaging winds.

"Heavy rainfall is also expected, but a fast storm speed is expected to limit catastrophic inland flooding. CoreLogic catastrophe and weather experts expect the 2020 hurricane season to continue on its above-average trend given warmer oceanic temperatures, which presents financial risk to homeowners and businesses in property services, like insurers and mortgage lenders. Hurricane-driven storm surge can cause significant property damage when high winds and low pressure cause water to amass inside the storm, releasing a powerful rush over land when the hurricane moves onshore."

For a complete view of total storm surge risk for all Atlantic and Gulf Coast metropolitan areas, as well as wildfire damage estimates, download the 2020 CoreLogic Storm Surge Report [2]. The following chart, provided by CoreLogic, breaks down the  potential cost to cities predicted to be hit hardest, at time of publication, by Hurricane Delta:

For complete methodology and more information about CoreLogic, visit the company's website [3].