A home flood can be a frustrating issue to deal with. In some areas, these floods are more common than others, but every area of the United States is a potential risk for home floods. That’s why you need to pay attention to how flooding works in the United States, including how you can mitigate problems that may arise due to home flooding.
10 Most Costly Floods in the United States
Firstly, One way to measure the extent of a flood is to look at its cost. Of course, this isn’t the only way of measuring how significant a flood is, but these are some sobering numbers that can really make you understand the dramatic impact a flood can have on local homes. These are the 10 most costly floods in the United States:
- Hurricane Katrina (August 2005) – 166,790 Losses, 6 States, $16 Billion Paid
- Hurricane Harvey (September 2017) – 76,257 Losses, 9 States, $9 Billion Paid
- Superstorm Sandy (October 2012) – 132,360 Losses, 16 States, $9 Billion Paid
- Hurricane Ike (September 2008) – 46,701 Losses, 9 States, $3 Billion Paid
- Louisiana Storms and Flooding (August 2016) – 26,976 Losses, 1 State, $2 Billion Paid
- Hurricane Ivan (September 2004) – 28,154 Losses, 15 States, $2 Billion Paid
- Hurricane Irene (August 2011) – 44,314 Losses, 14 States, $1 Billion Paid
- Tropical Storm Allison (June 2001) – 30,671 Losses, 6 States, $1 Billion Paid
- Hurricane Irma (September 2017) – 21,920 Losses, 3 States, $1 Billion Paid
- Hurricane Matthew (October 2016) – 16,585 Losses, 5 States, $700 Million Paid
Overall, these floods ended up costing $62.7 billion to various insurance companies. There are also plenty of smaller floods that occur every year, with dollar amounts that aren’t quite this high but are still pretty dramatic. With the most expensive flood ever clocking in at an eye-watering $16 billion in total payouts, it’s easy to see that flooding can be a serious problem in an overall sense.
10 US Cities at Highest Risk for Flooding
What about individual cities? One way to measure flood risk is to look at single-family homes at risk of storm surge. Storm surge occurs on the East coast when hurricanes moving in toward the coast push water above its highest tide level, sending ocean waves inland, sometimes many miles. These are the 10 cities in the United States at highest risk:
- Miami, FL (798,601 Homes)
- New York City, NY (732,531 Homes)
- Tampa, FL (466,444 Homes)
- New Orleans, LA (400,252 Homes)
- Virginia Beach, VA (397,722 Homes)
- Fort Myers, FL (335,574 Homes)
- Houston, TX (298,511 Homes)
- Bradenton, FL (266,719 Homes)
- Naples, FL (190,865 Homes)
- Jacksonville, FL (175,919 Homes)
Although these locations stretch out across the East coast, a full 60% of the top 10 cities are in Florida, showing the importance of flood insurance if you live in Florida. However, other locations may be just as important. No matter where you live, it’s crucial that you pay attention to changes and adaptations that might benefit your home and save you from serious flood damage.
Reasons to Make Flooding a Top-Tier Priority
You might not think that flooding is really a priority for you and your family, but there are millions of homes all across the United States at potential risk of flooding. You may be potentially at risk for flooding and not know it, or you may erroneously think your flood risk is low enough that you don’t need to do anything to stay safe. The three main reasons to protect your home from flooding are commonality, risk, and cost:
Commonality: 90% of natural disasters in the United States involve flooding
Risk: 20% of flooding claims come from low to moderate flood risk areas
Cost: The average flood claim in 2018 was $42,580
Lastly, In commonality, risk, and cost, a significant number of homes in the United States need to think about keeping themselves safe. No matter where you are, there’s a significant reason to focus on flooding. Avoiding flooding in your home is a crucial part of staying safe. Flood protection is a must if you want to avoid a price tag on repairs that can reach up past $100,000.
