Header

Hurricane Helene—Post-Event Report Part 1

Hero image

The significant difference between insured and economic losses in Hurricane Helene will be determined by the lack of flood insurance take-up rates and claims adjustment practices when wind and water damage are both present. 

The 3 major regions of impact from Hurricane Helene will influence damage assessment and ultimate claims payment: 

  1. Wind versus water claims in the landfall region of the Big Bend of Florida. 
  2. Historic coastal inundation resulting in storm surge induced flooding across the west coast of Florida, including the Tampa Bay metro region.
  3. Extreme and record shattering rainfall and catastrophic flooding, mudslide and landslide devastation in the mountainous regions of North Carolina, Tennessee, and to a lesser degree in South Carolina and Georgia.

Extreme infrastructure damage has transpired with Hurricane Helene.

  • Hundreds of miles of damaged and destroyed roads, including US Interstates 26 and 40.
  • 3.4 million customers are without power, the highest peak outage total since Hurricane Irma (2017).
  • Over 4,500 cellular sites are offline, the largest number from a landfalling hurricane since records were kept in 2016.

Part 1 of the Hurricane Helene Post Event Report is available for download, which examines insurance market implications of the event and the wide ranging infrastructure damage. Later this week, Part 2 will dive deeper into the ramifications of flood infrastructure in the United States as well as the implications a changing climate has on events such as Hurricane Helene.

insured and economic losses
Publicly available insured and economic loss estimates as of Sunday, September 29, 2024. Sources: Financial Times, AM Best, Miami Herald, Core Logic, Accuweather, Bloomberg.
cell outages by county
Percentage of cellular sites offline by county; nearly 4,500 sites are offline nationally, the largest number since statistics began in 2016. Source: US Federal Communications Commission.
inundation in Southern Appalachians
Inundation and damage in the mountainous regions of the Southern Appalachians. Source: Tennessee State Department of Emergency Management.

Part 2 of the Hurricane Helene Post Event report, focusing on flood infrastructure considerations and a changing climate relative to the event, will be issued later this week.

Footer