Floods are no joke. It’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to have flood insurance – floods are some of the costliest natural disasters out there. If you needed any extra convincing, just take a look at these 10 super-costly floods according to insurance payouts.
1. Hurricane Katrina (August 2005) – 166,790 Losses Paid
Hurricane Katrina is what most people would say if they were asked to name the deadliest or most damaging flooding event in the United States, and they’d be right. It stretched across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and cost $16 billion to insurance companies.
2. Hurricane Harvey (September 2017) – 76,257 Losses Paid
Hurricane Harvey stretched across Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas, and ended up causing $9 billion in damage.
3. Superstorm Sandy (October 2012) – 132,360 Losses Paid
One of the most widespread storms on this list, Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia, creating $9 billion in damage.
4. Hurricane Ike (September 2008) – 46,701 Losses Paid
Hurricane Ike stretched across Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, causing $3 billion in damage.
5. Louisiana Storms (August 2016) – 26,976 Losses Paid
Though this flooding only stretched across Louisiana, it still resulted in $2 billion of damage.
6. Hurricane Ivan (September 2004) – 28,154 Losses Paid
Reaching across Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, Hurricane Ivan did $2 billion of damage.
7. Hurricane Irene (August 2011) – 44,314 Losses Paid
As another wide-reaching storm, Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc on Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Vermont, doing $1 billion in damage.
8. Tropical Storm Allison (June 2001) – 30,671 Losses Paid
This storm was fairly contained to only Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas, but still did $1 billion in damage.
9. Hurricane Irma (September 2017) – 21,920 Losses Paid
An even more contained hurricane, Hurricane Irma only impacted Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, doing $1 billion in damage.
10. Hurricane Matthew (October 2016) – 16,585 Losses Paid
Rounding the list off is Hurricane Matthew. It impacted Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, and did about $700 million in damage. Despite being the lowest-ranking hurricane on this list, it still did a truly massive amount of damage, which is important to remember.
Conclusion
There are many conclusions to take from this list, possibly the most important being that homeowner’s insurance for at-risk flooding homes is crucially important. However, it’s also important to remember that just because a hurricane is more widespread, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be any more or less intense. The Louisiana Storms only impacted Louisiana, but still did billions of dollars worth of damage. No matter what, flooding can be damaging and deadly.
