Category: Hurricane Risk

It only takes one devastating storm to lose your home or change your life. Extreme weather events are impacting more people and it’s more important than ever to understand your personal risks and prepare accordingly. The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is approaching quickly and will officially begin on June 1.

Hurricanes are increasing in frequency and intensity . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) announced in April 2021 that an “average” Atlantic hurricane season now reflects 14 instead of 12 named storms and 7 instead of 6 hurricanes. These higher averages are based on the most recent 30-year climate record. For those living in hurricane-prone areas along the coast, hurricane season is impossible to ignore.

It’s vital for you to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season now, before the first storm approaches, a message that is shared during the annual Hurricane Preparedness Week.

Hurricane Preparedness Week

Hurricane Preparedness Week is a dedicated time to focus on the steps you can take now to increase your preparedness . Initiated by NOAA and proclaimed by President George W. Bush in 2001, Hurricane Awareness Week was started to spread awareness of the dangers and hazards of hurricanes. However, as history has shown, being aware of disaster risk is not the same as being prepared . Consequently, NOAA updated the name to Hurricane Preparedness Week in 2004 to encourage both awareness and action for preparing for hurricanes.

How to Participate

The best way to participate in Hurricane Preparedness Week is to take time out of your busy schedules and physically and mentally prepare! Start by determining your hurricane risk and developing an evacuation plan. Stock up on hurricane emergency supplies and check on your current insurance policies. Practice how to prepare your home for a hurricane and offer support to your neighbors as they prepare.

Help spread the word about Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 9-15, 2021). The National Weather Service has provided text and images to post on your social media platforms. Encouraging your friends, families, and neighbors to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season helps to create more resilient communities – something that we need more of in 2021.

How to Prepare for the Next Hurricane

Parachute Insurance was started with the goal of building resilience for climate disasters. As Hurricane Preparedness Week is approaching, we are here to remind you that preparation is an important step to increasing your resilience. We have already created our guide to preparing for the next hurricane. Here are a few key points:

• Create an Emergency Plan

During and after a hurricane, you will be under enormous pressure, therefore having a plan set in place will reduce your stress and allow you to focus on your recovery. Your emergency plan should include maps to your nearest shelters, planned meeting spots, and evacuation routes. Also make sure that you understand the different types of alerts.

• Assemble an Emergency Preparedness Kit

A hurricane can cut off your power and water supply. Your car may be damaged, and roads may be blocked or flooded. Therefore, you should ensure your home and cars are stocked with emergency supplies including food, water, medicine, cash, and more. Create a checklist to make sure you include everything for your kits.

• Get Your Home Prepared

Purchase storm shutters or pieces of plywood to cover up windows and doors during a hurricane. Even before hurricane season, you should make sure you know how to turn your power off, have a working carbon monoxide detector, and know your plan of action in the event of an oncoming storm.

• Financially Prepare

Create a plan to ensure you are financially prepared for the aftermath of a hurricane. Understand what is covered in your current homeowners’ policy and add additional insurance coverage as needed or add to a savings account to cover the potential short and long-term expenses and any deductibles.

Consider emergency cash insurance, such as Parachute Insurance, which offers you liquidity immediately after a disaster with no deductible. As your first line of defense against hurricanes, Parachute Insurance builds financial resilience to climate disasters.

Visit our blog, How to Prepare for the Next Hurricane  for a full list of items to have and ways to prepare!

Hurricanes are a threat to your home, your family, and your life. While hurricanes can undoubtedly be destructive, you have the ability to keep your family and home as safe as possible with a little preparation.

Hurricanes are strong storms that can cause severe hazards including flooding, storm surges, or high winds and can even be life-threatening. A few small steps you can take now will help make hurricane season less stressful. For those living in hurricane-prone areas, preparation is key!

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30 each year. The 2021 hurricane season will occur during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may affect your hurricane preparation and planning, but also makes it even more important to do so. If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it is to prepare for the unexpected. It’s much easier to prepare for a hurricane while the weather is still normal rather than waiting until the last minute during an already stressful time.

Here are a few actions you can take now to prepare for the next hurricane season.

Create an Emergency Plan

During and after a hurricane, you will be under additional pressure, therefore having a plan set in place will reduce your stress and allow you to focus on your recovery.

• Talk with your family about what you will do during a hurricane. Especially for younger children, discussing hurricanes ahead of time will reduce stress and fear.
• Understand the different types of alerts. The two types of alerts are a hurricane “watch” which can be announced 48 hours before tropical-storm-force winds are expected and the more serious hurricane “warning” which can be announced 36 hours prior.
• Write down emergency phone numbers and program them into your cell phone.
• Have a family communication plan. If you get separated and can’t reach one another, you will need to know how to get back in touch. You can designate a friend or family member to call and check in with.
• Print or save electronic copies of important documents including emergency phone numbers and insurance information.
• Locate the nearest shelter and map out the different routes you can take to get there from your home. Factor in any health or medical concerns, especially for older members of your family. If shelter locations in your area have not been identified, learn how to find them in the event of a storm.
• Pet owners: Pre-identify shelters, a pet-friendly hotel, or an out-of-town friend or relative who can take care of your pets in an evacuation. Call your local animal shelter for advice on what to do with your pets if you need to evacuate your home.
• Create a financial preparedness plan. Understand what is covered in your current homeowners’ policy and add additional coverage (such as flood insurance) if needed. Add to a savings account to cover the potential short and long-term expenses and any deductibles. Consider parametric insurance as a useful building block for your hurricane preparedness plan. With Parachute Insurance, you will receive emergency cash within hours after a hurricane hit.

Assemble an Emergency Preparedness Kit

A hurricane can cut off your power and water supply. Your car may be damaged, and roads may be blocked or flooded. Therefore, you should ensure your home and cars are stocked with emergency supplies. Create a checklist to make sure you include everything for your kits.

For your emergency kit, stock up on:

• Emergency food. Choose foods that require little or no cooking, water, or refrigeration and have a long storage life. Consider any family members who are on special diets, babies, and pets. Avoid salty or spicy foods that would increase the need for drinking water (which may be in short supply).
• Emergency water. Store at least 1 gallon of water per day for each person and each pet and at least a 3-day supply. The CDC offers advice on how to store and clean water containers.
• Emergency medicine supply. It is recommended to keep a 2-week supply of any medications and medical supplies needed.
• Make sure you have extra batteries available.
• ATM’s and banks may be inaccessible during a storm.
• Cell phones, chargers, and spare batteries.
• Cleaning products. Store hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, toilet paper, feminine products, face masks, first-aid kits, soap, and any supplies needed for children such as baby wipes or diapers.
• A battery-powered or hand-crank radio. Purchasing a radio will allow you to access local news and weather broadcasts. You can also receive weather alerts from your cell phone alerts, NOAA Weather Radio, or (@NWS) Twitter alerts.
• A fire extinguisher. Ensure that members of your family know where to find the fire extinguisher and how to use it.

Get Your Home Prepared

In the event of a hurricane, you will need to prepare your home. Even before hurricane season, you should make sure you have the supplies and practice how to get your home ready for an oncoming hurricane.

• Purchase storm shutters or pieces of plywood to cover up windows and doors during a hurricane.
• Know how to turn off your power. If flooding occurs, power lines are downed, or you must leave your home, you will need to switch off your power.
• Have clean water containers to fill with drinking water in case you lose your water supply during a storm.
• Check your carbon monoxide (CO) detector’s battery regularly to prevent CO poisoning.
• Plan where to store outdoor items. Lawn furniture, toys, gardening tools, and trash cans should all be stored away to prevent them from being moved by high winds and possibly causing harm to someone.
• Clean loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts. This will prevent flooding in the event of heavy rains.

For those living in hurricane-prone areas, it is never too early to prepare. The important thing is to take the actions needed to keep yourself and your family safe!

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season was extremely active and broke many records:

• 30 named tropical storms – more than ever recorded and exceeding the alphabetical list of 21 Atlantic storm names.
• 12 tropical storms hit the U.S., of which 5 came ashore in Louisiana – 3 more than the previous record from 1916.

Tropical cyclones impacted the entire U.S. coastline from Texas to New Jersey last year but hit particularly hard the Caribbean and Central America. In this blog, we are taking a look back at the major hurricanes making U.S. landfall and what damages they caused before we share our perspective on how you can prepare for 2021.

The Storms

The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season produced 30 named tropical storms of which 12 made landfall in the U.S. The season got off to an unusual early start with tropical storm Arthur in mid-May, two weeks before the official start of hurricane season on June 1^st. By July, three tropical storms, Edouard, Fay, and Gonzalo, broke the record for earliest fifth, sixth, and seventh named storms, respectively. Many more hurricanes and tropical storms formed over the summer. In the month of September, 10 tropical storms formed, more than in any month on record. By the end of October, hurricane Zeta became the 27^th named storm of the season, the most since 2005, and the 11^th storm to make landfall in the U.S. Eta was the last tropical storm impacting the US in 2020. It made landfall twice in Florida on November 8 and 12 after having steamrolled as major hurricane into Central America.

Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds of 39 mph or higher are called tropical storms (and receive a “name” from the National Hurricane Center). Storms with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or higher are called hurricanes. They are categorized from 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The higher the wind speed, the higher the category, and the greater the hurricane’s potential for property damage.

Here is an overview of the most notable hurricanes (from a U.S. perspective):

• Hurricane Hanna: Category 1 Hurricane Hanna, the earliest 8^th named storm on record, made landfall at Padre Island, Texas on July 25. High winds and heavy rainfall, up to 12 inches, caused widespread flooding in the Rio Grande Valley.

• Hurricane Isaias: Tropical storm Isaias brought high winds and heavy rain to Puerto Rico on July 29-30 before traveling north passing by the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. It intensified over the Atlantic and made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina on August 3. High winds and heavy rains were experienced much further inland than normal reaching from Virginia all the way to New England. Millions of people lost power and 5 people died as a result of the hurricane.

• Hurricane Laura: On August 27, Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph before downgrading to a Category 2. It tore off roofs while knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people. A large storm surge occurred over much of Louisiana’s coastline and flooding rainfall extended into western and central Louisiana. Over 500,000 residents were evacuated. 98% of households in Cameron County lost power. At least 27 people were killed. The total economic losses are estimated at $16 billion.

• Hurricane Sally: Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 hurricane on September 16. Flooding along the Alabama-Florida border forced thousands of rescues. In Florida alone, Sally dumped four months of rain in four hours causing widespread flooding. Due to high winds and flooding, hurricane Sally left many communities heavily damaged in its wake.

• Hurricane Delta: On October 6, Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified from a tropical storm into a Category 4 hurricane over the Caribbean Sea putting much of the Gulf Coast, from Texas to Florida panhandle, on high alert. It eventually made landfall near Creole, Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, only 12 miles away from where hurricane Laura caused massive destructions only 6 weeks earlier. Four people died and nearly 150,000 people lost power. The hurricane also caused 10 tornadoes to develop causing additional damages.

• Hurricane Zeta: Category 2 Hurricane Zeta made landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana on October 28 taking the lives of 6 people. The hurricane caused over 2 million people to lose power.

Visit here for a full breakdown of all the storms in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

To watch a great visualization of all 2020 hurricanes and tropical storms, watch this clip produced by NASA.

The Impact

The total economic losses from hurricanes and tropical storms in the U.S. in 2020 are estimated to be $37 billion, ranking the eighth highest total on record. All while scientists are attributing an increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes to the effects of climate change.

For families living near the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, the threat of costly damages from hurricanes is a real concern. There is a large gap in standard home insurance coverage that leaves many families financially vulnerable. Standard insurance policies exclude damages from flooding and limit the insurer’s financial responsibility in the form of hurricane deductibles.

Looking Ahead

The reality is that standard homeowners insurance policies are not sufficient to protect families from the very real and increasing threat of hurricanes. One option to help fill this insurance gap is parametric insurance, a new form of insurance that offers quick and painless support in the immediate aftermath of a crisis. Parachute Insurance is designed to increase financial resilience for hurricanes and removes the need for an adjuster or a lengthy claims process. It pays homeowners emergency cash within hours after a hurricane hit.

The 2020 hurricane season was brutal, and the unfortunate reality is that the next hurricane season could be the same – or worse. We want you to be physically and financially prepared before the next hurricane hits so you can stay resilient to these storms!

Visit our blog to learn more about how you can increase your financial preparedness before the next hurricane.