FOUR MILLION US HOMES IN DANGER

Submitted by ub on

As hurricane season continues, a California based company is estimating that 4.2 million homes scattered throughout the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts have been built dangerously close to storm surge risk zones.

This means that they could be vulnerable to property damages in the wake of a strong hurricane. Storm surge, which refers to the abnormal rise of seawater during a hurricane that can flood coastal areas, was the culprit behind much of the damage sustained during Superstorm Sandy along the New Jersey Shore and in New York City, where a 13-foot wave submerged much of Lower Manhattan.

The CoreLogic report estimates that 10 major coastal metro areas account for more than $658 billion worth of property susceptible to storm surge. State-wise, Florida has the most real estate at risk: nearly 1.5 million properties worth $386 billion. Louisiana is second in terms of the total number of properties, with over 400,000 homes.

The 2013 CoreLogic Storm Surge Report examines single-family residential structures (homes) exposed to potential hurricane-driven storm-surge damage along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts in the U.S, including an evaluation of 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. New insights within the 2013 CoreLogic Storm Surge Report include:

An expanded overview of potential storm-surge risk that could occur in the event a one-foot, two-foot or three-foot sea-level rise

Innovative analysis that provides a glimpse into the potential for increased risk in the event that ocean levels increase in coming years
An explanation of the enhanced storm-surge methodology using valuations determined with CoreLogic Automated Valuation Model (AVM) data that is more geographically comprehensive than previous valuation methods Impact and implications of Hurricane Sandy—the largest storm of the 2012 hurricane season

Two separate top-ten lists provide an overview of major metropolitan areas ranked by total properties at risk and the total value of those properties based on CoreLogic property improvement value.

To learn more about CoreLogic Coastal Risk and Storm Surge product offerings, visit the product page on CoreLogic.com.