Analysis conducted by reinsurance brokerage, risk and capital strategic advisory firm TigerRisk indicates that the frequency of stalled storms, such as hurricane Harvey in 2017 and Florence in 2018, has remained relatively constant over the past 167 years.
The company’s analytics team conducted an extensive review of weather data as far back as 1851 and published a white paper on their findings.
The review was prompted by industry-wide concerns after Harvey and Florence each stalled along coastal regions of the US instead of hitting the shore, barrelling inland and losing strength.
Next to Katrina in 2005, Harvey was the second costliest hurricane in US history, resulting in losses of $125 billion, $19 billion of which were insured.
The following year Florence stalled over North Carolina and caused overall losses of $45 billion, of which only $4.6 billion were insured.
“Our research identified 37 tropical storms that had stalled once they had come ashore,” said Anna Neely, Research and Development Analyst at TigerRisk. “Only in six cases did they occur back-to-back in consecutive years.”
Despite determining that the frequency of stalled storms has remained relatively constant, TigerRisk warns that more research is warranted on what causes storms to stall and the unique way in which these storms cause damage.
Moreover, even if storms continue to stall at the normal rate, TigerRisk says the increasing dollar amount of damage caused points to the inadequacy of flood control and insufficient flood insurance.
