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Hurricane Michael Death Toll Reaches 29 As Water Risks Emerge

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With experts estimating weeks-at-least before normalcy can return to Florida’s Panhandle coast, Hurricane Michael—a category 4 storm which destroyed thousands of houses in Florida and Georgia—has so far caused at least 29 deaths and numerous injuries in four states. Upon its touchdown on Oct. 10, Michael became one of the strongest ever to hit the U.S. mainland with wind speeds of up to 155 miles per hour. Reports indicate that dozens of people are still missing in the U.S. and up to 35 people remain unaccounted for in hard-hit Mexico Beach.

Boston-based Karen Clark & Company, a risk-modeling firm, estimated that Hurricane Michael caused about $8 billion in insured losses. It includes the privately insured wind and storm surge damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties and automobiles. The figure excludes losses covered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Brian Wooley, vice president of operations for Interstate Restoration, a Texas-based emergency response and general restoration contractor, said the damage outcomes appear similar to major storms that occurred over the last two hurricane seasons.

“With Michael, we have seen far more wind-related damage as opposed to the kind of flooding damage that we saw with Hurricane Florence last month and Hurricane Harvey last year,” Wooley said. “Numerous businesses were completely wiped out and some were left only with standing walls, but no roofs; leaving all of their contents and structures exposed to the environment…they will have to completely rebuild and restock. As devastating as Hurricane Katrina was, Michael caused more widescale wind-related damage. And even with forceful Hurricane Irma, it didn’t destroy entire communities like Michael was able to do.”

More than 158,000 power customers didn’t have electricity yesterday, demonstrating that progress is being made, as 237,000 were reported Monday without power in the southeast as a result. This is a problem exacerbated by the stifling heat, with the hardest-hit areas receiving air-dropped food and water to survive.  The State of Florida said 3 million ready-to-eat meals, 2 million gallons of water and 2 million pounds of ice are being distributed in storm-impacted areas.

Wooley said that many businesses have proven resilient but others are recovering “in a limping manner.”

“Other projects will take months, and still others might take as long as a year-and-a-half depending on the severity of damage, insurance process complexities,” he said.

Environmental Risks

Another risk that residents and businesses in Florida and Mexico will have to contend with is that of grey water, which contains significant chemical, biological, or physical elements.

“[Grey water] may quickly become hazardous to human exposure as microbes and other contaminants begin to grow to dangerous levels when water has been standing in excess of 48 to 72 hours,” Wooley said. “These types of contaminants typically require a special remediation process and careful handling to safeguard against serious health dangers. This issue of harmful algae is an example of why people should be sure to hire a trusted restoration company with extensive experience dealing with these types of storm situations.”

Emergency Orders and Policyholder Protections

On Oct. 14, Florida Gov. Rick Scott directed Florida’s insurance commissioner to take every action authorized pursuant to Executive Order 18-276 to provide additional protections to support recovery efforts in the areas of the state impacted by Hurricane Michael. Gov. Scott and other state legislators made it clear that the expectation for Florida’s insurance companies is to expeditiously respond to policyholders’ needs and to treat families fairly. The quick response of insurance companies is critical to the recovery of Florida families following Hurricane Michael.

Gov. Scott said: “Hurricane Michael absolutely devastated Florida’s northern Gulf Coast and Panhandle and the recovery of every family impacted by this storm is our top priority. Today… we are mobilizing even more resources and staff to provide additional protections for consumers. Our state will never tolerate anyone taking advantage of the families recovering from this storm.”

Gov. Scott directed additional protections for Florida policyholders in the impacted area:

  1. Provide an additional 90 days to policyholders to supply required information to their insurance company. Many Floridians were displaced during this dangerous storm, and providing additional time to submit information to insurance companies gives them needed flexibility.
  2. Require all non-renewals or cancellations issued to policyholders in the days leading up to Hurricane Michael be rescinded for 90 days. This gives policyholders 90 days to either renew their insurance policy, or find a new policy; and
  3. Freeze any and all efforts to increase rates on policyholders for 90 days. Due to the devastating effects of Hurricane Michael, Floridians should be focused on getting back to their normal lives without their insurance premiums being increased.

During the weekend before landfall, Gov. Scott declared a state of emergency for several counties from the Gulf Coast to Navarre on the Panhandle to the Suwanee River.

Tropical Storm Michael Upgraded to Hurricane, Approaches Florida

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The National Hurricane Center classified Tropical Storm Michael as a category 3 hurricane Monday morning as it passed through Cuba and approached Florida.

Over the weekend, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for several counties from the Gulf Coast to Navarre on the Panhandle to the Suwanee River. Gov. Scott also directed the state’s National Guard to activate 500 guardsmen to assist with planning and prepare for response in impacted areas as the state monitors the storm.

Michael is currently located in the Yucatan Channel about 600 miles south of Apalachicola, Florida with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The storm is moving to the north at 7 mph and is expected to continue strengthening as it accelerates northward across the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to make landfall as a Category 3, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, in the Florida Panhandle or Big Bend on Oct 10.
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Storm surges are expected as well, with eight to 12 feet possible. Homeowners and business owners who might be in its path are encouraged to visit floridadisaster.org and FloridaDisaster.biz and register to receive updates as the storm progresses.

Hurricane Irma hit Florida in August 2017, and that category 5 storm caused an estimated $64.76 billion, causing 134 fatalities and affecting several crops and agricultural producers. With Florida still recovering from the damage wrought by Irma, Hurricane Michael may provide major challenges for businesses caught in its path.

Business Continuity Plans
In January, Risk Management Monitor reported that 62% of large U.S. companies with operations in Florida, Texas or Puerto Rico said they were not fully prepared for major storms and hurricanes in 2017.

“These candid admissions drive home a fundamental truth about catastrophe,” Louis Gritzo, vice president and manager of research at FM Global said in a statement in conjunction with the company’s findings. “People routinely fail to understand or acknowledge the magnitude of risk until they’ve experienced a fateful event.”

FEMA’s business disaster continuity plans can be found here, and a Hurricane Ready Business Toolkit can be found here. According to FEMA and the Department of Labor, 40% of small businesses will not reopen immediately after a hurricane hits, 25% more will close about one year later, and 75% of business without a continuity plan will fail within three years. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017, Risk Management Monitor provided critical tips for small businesses preparing for the next natural disaster.

The first step for any small business is to prepare internally. Here are three best practices that small-business owners can adapt to prepare for a future hurricane or any other natural disaster.

  1. Establish a recovery plan: Often, disaster recovery plans fall to the bottom of small-business owners’ to-do lists, especially if their business is located in an area that doesn’t typically experience high-risk weather. However, no business is immune from a harmful storm’s impact. Disaster preparedness starts with a formal plan that’s comprehensive and allows the company to quickly restore its normal operations following an emergency.
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  2. Discuss your plan with all employees: It is crucial for your entire staff to be on the same page when it comes to what your disaster plan involves in order for it to be effective. So once small-business owners have a plan in place, they need to ensure that their employees know what’s included and what their responsibilities are should a natural disaster strike.
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    Owners can share this information by emailing a copy to all employees and discussing the plan in detail at the next all-hands meeting.

  3. Back up your business’s data: Small-business owners should ensure their data is backed up both virtually and physically in a secure location. Doing so can prevent a natural disaster from turning into an even worse data loss debacle.

The last October landfalling hurricane in the Florida Panhandle was Hurricane Opal in 1995. Throughout the storm’s path from Central America into the Ohio Valley, 63 people died in storm-related events. Losses attributed to Opal exceeded $4.7 billion, much of which took place in the United States.

Hurricane Florence Losses Estimated at $2.5 Billion

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Now a tropical depression, Florence hovered primarily over North and South Carolina over the weekend, dumping record-breaking rainfall in those states and killing at least 17 people. Remnants of the system are heading north, bringing rain through Tuesday.

The storm made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, N.C. on Sept. 14, causing more than one million power failures and at least 16 deaths over the weekend, according to the New York Times. Tropical Depression Florence slowly flooded cities, endangering communities from the coastline to the mountains, and requiring more than 1,000 rescues.

Karen Clark & Company (KCC) estimates that insured losses from Hurricane Florence will be $2.5 billion, which includes the privately insured wind, storm surge, and inland flooding damage to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and automobiles, but does not include National Flood Insurance Program losses.

KCC reports:

On Sept. 14, Florence made landfall in North Carolina with maximum sustained wind speeds around 90 mph. As the storm slowly passed southwest over South Carolina on Sept. 15, the hurricane weakened to a tropical storm and made a wide turn to the north. By Sept. 16, Florence had become a tropical depression in northeastern South Carolina.

Peak surge from Hurricane Florence reached 10 feet in New Bern, North Carolina, and other areas of the state including Beaufort and Wilmington had significant storm surge impacts. Locations at the heads of shallow bays, where the water is more easily pushed ashore by a hurricane’s high wind speeds, experienced the most coastal inundation.

Although this storm is winding down, there may be more to come. “We’re now in the peak of hurricane season, and the season still has a long way to go,” Dr. Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Times. He added, “There will be more storms—that’s a definite. Where exactly they track, and when or if they’ll make landfall—that’s what’s not predictable this far in advance.”

Florence Highlights
▪Made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, with Category 1 wind speeds

▪Reached peak intensity of 140 mph on Sept. 10, but weakened before impacting the U.S. coast and spared the Carolinas from major hurricane impacts

▪Expected intensification to a Category 5 hurricane did not occur

▪Slow forward speed decreased to 6 mph prior to landfall and reached as low as 2 mph once inland

▪Brought heavy precipitation in excess of 30 inches to parts of North Carolina

▪Peak storm surge reached 10 feet in New Bern, North Carolina

RIMS Legislative Summit Focuses on NFIP Renewal

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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The menacing presence of Hurricane Florence turned the focus at the RIMS Legislative Summit to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), an ever-important issue for business owners across the country.

The NFIP has been extended several times since September 2017 and the next deadline to reauthorize the program is Nov. 30. The summit’s timing was especially relevant as Hurricane Florence approached the Eastern Seaboard just 300 miles south of the summit, expected to make landfall on Friday.

An Industry Perspective of Federal Legislative Issues
Moderated by Whitney Craig, RIMS director of government relations, a panel discussion, “NFIP & Beyond” featured insight from Jennifer Webb, counsel for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, and Joel Wood and Blaire Bartlett of the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers and its CouncilPAC.

The panelists came to a consensus that a reauthorized NFIP was critical, and that upcoming midterm elections would influence the amount of time an extension would be granted. They acknowledged that a gap in coverage is certainly not ideal and said their offices are working on a bi-partisan resolution.

Bartlett said that improving NFIP through privatization will be a give-and-take process.

“To its credit, FEMA has done what it is able to do as far as claims processing goes. They have taken a multiyear look. If you want to open up the private markets, that will have to be balanced with some claims legislation—we’re going to have to give in some on claims language,” Bartlett said, noting that, “If Hurricane Florence does hit the Carolinas, some of the members may not be willing to call out the federal government the way New Yorkers did after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.”

And while there were some civil disagreements, the trio did find some common ground. For example, FEMA’s flood maps were rebuked for failing when put to the test by a real flood as seen in Houston in 2017 following Hurricane Harvey.

“I think we can agree that NFIP needs some modernizations, but there’s a way to do that without closing down a program that is being used by 5 million people,” Webb said.  “We didn’t see that in Texas but we could see it in the Carolinas.”

Congressional Staff Panel
This panel featured two senior congressional staffers for the U.S. House of Representatives – John Y. Hair, financial services committee designee for Congressman John Duffy (R-WI); and Lucas West, legislative director for Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO).

Discussions largely centered on NFIP reauthorization, Hurricane Florence and the upcoming elections.

“We have just over two months to get it through before the expiration and it’s really on the Senate. We’re putting pressure on the Senate for a long-term, five-year bill that actually makes some reforms,” Hair said.

Also discussed was the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which created a temporary federal program that provides public and private compensation due to terrorism-related losses, which is set to expire in December 2020. And while the traditional issues of insurance were discussed, cybersecurity, data breaches and even autonomous vehicles were also included.

Regarding autonomous vehicles, Hair said, “Certainly, access to data is going to be important on decisions regarding ‘who’s going to take the liability [in the event of a crash]?’ This could lead to a huge push to reform our liability system. We’re engaging in the risk of [commercial and taxi driver] licenses right now.”

Midterm Election: Insider Update
Mike Gula, co-founder of Gula Graham, the largest Republican fundraising firm in the U.S., discussed how attendees, members and their companies can strategically position themselves with upcoming midterm elections in November.

Gula said that because dozens of congressional seats are up for grabs in the election, companies and insurers may need to prepare for changes to laws that will impact their policies and coverage.

On day two of the summit, dozens of RIMS members descended on Capitol Hill for meetings with congressional leaders. The goal was to share RIMS priorities for a long-term, reauthorized NFIP via H.R. 2874, the 21st Century Flood Reform Act, and funding for non-regulatory maps that project future flood risks. Later, in the Rayburn House Office Building, Florida Congressman Dennis Ross spoke to RIMS members and echoed their sentiments about NFIP and how flood maps were in desperate need of a thorough update.

Access RIMScast coverage of the summit.