A new report by ValuePenguin [1] found that homeowners in Texas were hit hardest by natural disasters, with annual costs averaging $1,478 per household over the last five years.
Additionally, the report found 10 states paid for more than 80% of the cost of natural disasters across the nation, with the damage concentrated along the Gulf Coast.
The report added that there were $14.1 billion in statewide annual property damage due to natural disasters. ValuePenguin said 2017 accounted for $63.4 billion in damage, mostly due to Hurricane Harvey. Texas also had the most deaths over this five-year period, with 321 weather-related deaths.
Following Texas, homeowners in Louisiana paid $1,078 in weather-related damages. Florida was a distant third at $451, followed by California ($319); Colorado ($220); North Carolina ($153); Michigan ($150); New Mexico ($119); Nebraska ($115); and Georgia ($112). Th national average is $104 annually.
California recorded $4.14 billion in statewide annual property damage due to natural disasters. The Golden State also had the most FEMA-declared disasters of any state—16.4 between 2016 and 2018.
ValuePenguin projects that 2020 is on track to have the most FEMA-recognized disaster in history. There have been 180 disasters declared through the end of May, with 154 related to COVID-19.
“While the full cost of the coronavirus will be impossible to determine until the virus is under control, it will no doubt be among the costliest disasters in U.S. history,” the report said.
Peak disaster season has yet to arrive, as 51% of the total number of disasters between 1998 and 2019 occurred between June and August.
A recent report by CoreLogic [2] found that the 2020 hurricane season could harm more than 7 million properties from a storm surge this year. This brings a potential of $1.7 trillion in reconstruction costs for single-family homes and $95 billion for multi-family residences.
These figures assume total destruction of all properties facing the threat of a storm surge in the worst-case scenario of a Category 5 hurricane in their area.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says this hurricane season [3] has a 60% chance of being “above-normal.”
NOAA predicts between 13 and 19 named storms, between six and 10 hurricanes, and between three and six major hurricanes this year.