6.6M Homes at Risk of Hurricane Damage This Year. Here’s Which States They’re In

6.6M Homes at Risk of Hurricane Damage This Year. Here’s Which States They’re In

REUTERS
By Beth Braverman

As hurricane season gets underway, real estate analytics firm CoreLogic is warning that there are more than 6.6 million U.S. homes at risk of being hit by a storm surge. That could lead to as much at $1.5 trillion in damage.

The homes are in 19 states and the District of Columbia along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Six states account for more than three-quarters of all at-risk homes, with Florida having the most (2.5 million), followed by Louisiana (760,000), New York (465,000), New Jersey (446,148), Texas (441,304) and Virginia (420,052).

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“The number of hurricanes each year is less important than the location of where the next hurricane will come ashore,” CoreLogic’s senior hazard risk analyst said in a statement. “It only takes one hurricane that pushes storm surge into a major metropolitan area for the damage to tally in the billions of dollars. With new home construction, and any amount of sea-level rise, the number of homes at risk of storm surge damage will continue to increase.” 

The District of Columbia has the lowest number of properties at risk (3,700), followed by New Hampshire (12,400) and Maine (22,500

State Table (Ranked by Number of Homes at Risk)

Rank

State

Extreme

Very High

High

Moderate

Low*

Total

1

Florida

793,204

461,632

524,923

352,102

377,951

2,509,812

2

Louisiana

97,760

104,059

337,495

138,762

82,196

760,272

3

New York

127,325

114,876

131,039

91,294

N/A

464,534

4

New Jersey

116,581

178,668

73,303

77,596

N/A

446,148

5

Texas

45,800

70,894

112,189

116,168

96,253

441,304

6

Virginia

94,260

115,770

98,463

84,015

27,544

420,052

7

South Carolina

107,443

57,327

65,885

46,799

30,961

308,415

8

North Carolina

73,463

51,927

48,595

40,155

37,347

251,487

9

Massachusetts

31,420

65,279

74,413

49,325

N/A

220,437

10

Maryland

47,990

39,966

27,591

28,975

N/A

144,522

11

Georgia

41,970

52,281

28,852

19,190

8,465

150,758

12

Pennsylvania

1,467

45,776

37,983

32,426

N/A

117,652

13

Mississippi

14,809

20,643

29,387

27,507

10,588

102,934

14

Connecticut

25,292

23,656

22,230

26,529

N/A

97,707

15

Alabama

7,403

12,707

10,182

13,749

14,086

58,127

16

Delaware

11,523

10,854

13,528

13,811

N/A

49,716

17

Rhode Island

6,595

5,988

6,720

7,187

N/A

26,490

18

Maine

5,159

2,753

7,368

7,211

N/A

22,491

19

New Hampshire

2,514

3,470

4,234

2,272

N/A

12,490

20

District of Columbia

N/A**

N/A**

545

3,123

N/A

3,668

Total

1,651,978

1,438,526

1,654,925

1,178,196

685,391

6,609,016


* The "Low" risk category is based on Category 5 hurricanes, which are not likely along the northeastern Atlantic coast. States in that area have N/A designated for the Low category due to the extremely low probability of a Category 5 storm affecting that area.
** Washington, D.C. has no Atlantic coastal properties, but can be affected by larger hurricanes that push storm surge into the Potomac River. Category 1 and 2 storms will likely not generate sufficient storm surge to affect properties in Washington, D.C. 

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