More than 4.2 million U.S. homes are located within the risk-zone of hurricane-driven storm-surge along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, CoreLogic concluded in a study this week.
After analyzing residential property risk on the national, regional, state, metro and ZIP code level, CoreLogic (CLGX) produced a Storm Surge Report, noting that $1.1 trillion in U.S. property is situated within at-risk areas.
Unfortunately, risk-prone areas are only increasing.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency released a revised flood map for New York suburbs, adding another 35,000 homes and businesses to the list of at-risk properties along the coast.
“Public awareness of the risk hurricane-driven storm surge poses to coastal homeowners has never been higher coming off the heels of Hurricane Sandy last fall,” said Dr. Howard Botts, vice president and director of database development for CoreLogic Spatial Solutions. “Sandy was a harsh reminder of the potential destruction associated with storm-surge flooding, and of just how many communities are vulnerable to that risk, in areas typically assumed to be relatively safe from hurricanes along the northeastern Atlantic shoreline.”
Of the $1.1 trillion in property at-risk, $658 billion is located in 10 major metro areas.
States high on the list include Louisiana with 411,000 homes in storm-surge zones. Not to mention, New York with $135 billion in property at risk.
Long Island, N.Y., alone has an estimated $200 billion in residential property exposed.
CoreLogic says for the first time the report incorporates a climate-related rise in sea levels – a factor putting more neighborhoods at risk.
“These findings show that the Miami area could potentially have the highest increase in the number of homes at risk of the cities discussed in the report,” CoreLogic said. “Given a one-foot rise in sea level, total properties at risk would nearly double from just under 132,000 to almost 340,000, and estimated value would increase from an estimated $48 billion to more than $94 billion overall.”
