Houston Among The US Cities Most Vulnerable To Costly Hurricane Damage

Houston TX

23 October, 2021

3:41 PM

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By Samuel Stebbins, 24/7 Wall St. Houston 2021-10-23 So far, 2021 has been a historic year for natural disasters in the United States. There were a record 18 weather and climate disasters costing more than $1 billion each in the first nine months of 2021, according to a report from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Wildfires, severe storms, tornadoes, and extreme temperatures resulted in 538 deaths and $104.8 billion in damage nationwide from January through September — eclipsing totals from all of 2020. Going forward, climate change will likely only continue to contribute to the increased frequency and severity of natural disasters, including hurricanes — the deadliest and most destructive classification of natural disaster threatening the United States. Over the past two decades, hurricanes have killed an average of over 300 Americans per year and resulted in overall damage totalling nearly $1 trillion. According to a recent report from CoreLogic — a property information, analytics, and data provider — nearly 8 million single-family homes are at risk of storm surge damage from hurricanes, and over 31 million homes are at risk of damage from hurricane winds nationwide. These risks are disproportionately shouldered by metropolitan areas along the Eastern Seaboard and along the Gulf of Mexico. Located near the Gulf Coast in east Texas, Houston is at risk of considerable hurricane damage. Over 260,000 residential properties — with an estimated replacement value of $56.9 billion — in the Houston metro area are exposed to potential flooding damage from a storm surge. Nearly 2 million local homes are at risk of wind damage in the event of a hurricane, damage that could result in nearly half a trillion dollars in replacement costs. Houston is one of several metro areas devastated by a hurricane in recent years. Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm in August 2017 south of Houston. Though it eventually moved back out to sea, it brough torrential rainfall and devastating flooding to Houston and other parts of Harris County. Dumping over 27 trillion gallons of rain in Texas alone, Harvey led to over 100 deaths and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage, making it the second most costly hurricane to the United States in over 100 years. All data on the number of at-risk homes and reconstruction cost value is from CoreLogic's 2021 Hurricane Report. Metropolitan areas are ranked on the number of single-family residential structures less than four stories at moderate or greater risk of damage from storm surge flooding in the 2021 hurricane season.     Can't see the article's infographic? Click here to view the original story.This story was originally published by 24/7 Wall St., a news organization that produces real-time business commentary and data-driven reporting for state and local markets across the country.