Hurricane season has begun in the U.S., and new reports are highlight the escalating danger of building and rebuilding homes in communities vulnerable to these storms.
Two years ago, Freddie Mac's chief economist wrote that increased flooding and storm surges would become dire enough to trigger another housing crisis, as homeowners who cannot sell their properties abandon their homes and mortgages. More than 6.9 million homes are currently at risk of hurricane storm surge damage, translating to $1.6 trillion in potential reconstruction costs, says analysis from CoreLogic. At the same time, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says flooding will only become more common, and will put more pressure on the National Flood Insurance Program that is set to expire in July of this year, barring congressional renewal, Curbed reports.
The placement and power of a storm play a great role in determining its eventual impact. Even a low-intensity storm hitting Miami, with 788,000 at-risk homes and an RCV of more than $156 billion, would do more damage than a high-intensity storm making landfall along a sparsely inhabited coastline. Last year, the United States suffered the most billion-dollar natural disasters in its history, as a warming climate creates record-breaking numbers of extreme weather events. The two largest storms, Harvey and Irma, are estimated to have cost between $40 billion-$59 billion and $29 billion-$46 billion respectively, according to Realtor.com.