Considering that this year's hurricane forecast calls for 16 named storms and five major hurricanes, the 2011 season could be a costly one. As coastal areas become increasingly developed, potential losses from such natural disasters increases exponentially.
According to CoreLogic Spatial Solutions, 10 areas in particular face grave storm surge risk. From highest to lowest risk, along with the dollar value of the exposure, the company lists the following locations: Long Island, New York ($99 billion), Miami-Dade, Florida ($44.9 billion), Virginia Beach, Virginia ($44.6 billion), New Orleans, Louisiana ($39 billion), Tampa, Florida ($27 billion), Houston, Texas ($20 billion), Jacksonville, Florida ($19.6 billion), Charleston, South Carolina ($17.7 billion), Corpus Christi, Texas ($4.7 billion) and Mobile, Alabama ($3 billion).
"The local flood zones defined by FEMA in high-risk coastal regions provide a great deal of exposure data for homes in the path of flood waters," said Dr. Howard Botts, executive vice president and director of database development for CoreLogic. "But understanding the additional layer of risk posed by a storm surge is critical for homeowners, emergency response teams, insurance companies and many others to plan and prepare for natural catastrophes."
Ten Worst Locations for Storm Surge
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