Mr. Ramstrom presented a seminar titled “Damage Rates from Insurance Claims for Coastal and Inland Areas in Hurricanes Harvey and Irma”.
ABSTRACT:
Insurance claims data provides a highly detailed view of the geographic patterns of damage in hurricanes. This talk will cover analytics that correlate claims percentages with maximum winds and rainfall during the landfalls of Harvey and Irma. Industry-wide claims data in the aftermath of both hurricanes show that damage rates were much higher in areas with less strict building codes. Coastal areas of Florida and Texas with stronger building codes experienced lower claims percentages than inland areas that experienced similar wind speeds, based on homeowners’ insurance claims. Detailed wind analysis based on dynamical models, local surface properties, and observations captures the maximum sustained and gusts experienced at each location. The talk will cover the pattern of wind claims activity in Texas from Harvey, and in Florida from Irma, and how damage rates are modulated by the maximum winds and local building codes.
A recording of the presentation is available on the anonymous ftp site: ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/pub/hrd/blog/seminars/2018/Ramstrom_HRD_Seminar_20180806.mp4
