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Hurricane Lane did not make landfall in Hawaii, and instead just brushed by, leaving around 50 inches of rain and tropical storm force winds. The storm surge only hit two to four feet as well, meaning little to no damage to property.
CoreLogic estimated that prior to Hurricane Lane’s possible landfall, around 48,000 homes were either at Extreme or Very High risk for flooding. Additionally, 80 percent of the homes in the state would have been at risk for tropical storm force winds.
Hawaii accounts for around 60,000 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies, just one percent of the national total, while Florida, Texas and Louisiana make up 60 percent of the national total NFIP policies.
According to CoreLogic, it is still too early to determine what the financial losses will be from Lane, but Lane was still a low impact storm. No serious property damage occured, with only minor flooding.
The last major hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki, which struck Kauai on September 11, 1992. Iniki caused over $3 billion in damage and resulted in six deaths. Hurricane Iniki was a Category Four storm when it made landfall, meaning the damage from Category Five Hurricane Lane would have been much more severe. If Iniki were to make landfall in Hawaii today, CoreLogic predicts wind damage alone would have caused around $6 billion in damages.
Before Iniki, the last hurricane to land in Hawaii was Hurricane Dot in 1959, making hurricanes on the island state relatively rare.
It was a close call, as Hurricane Lane was a Category Five Hurricane at its peak in the Pacific. This news comes not long after an independent study from George Washington University's Milken School of Public Health found the death toll following Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico to be much higher than originally believed, DSNews reported.
On November 14-16, Five Star will host the PR18 Summit in San Juan, Puerto Rico to focus on rebuilding efforts and the current state of the island following Hurricane Maria. Housing industry executives from banks, servicers, and suppliers, as well as key stakeholders in the affected regions, local officials, and representatives from related governmental agencies will be in attendance to collaborate and discuss Puerto Rico’s affairs and brainstorm long-term solutions to the housing crisis on the island.
Click below for more information and to register for this event:
