In September 1938, the Great New England Hurricane devastated the northeast United States with high winds, storm surge, and inland flooding causing more than 700 fatalities. To mark the 70th anniversary of the event, catastrophe experts at Risk Management Solutions recently published a report investigating the likely impacts if the storm were to recur today.

The study's key conclusions include:

• Insured losses from wind, storm surge, and flooding from a repeat of the 1938 Great New England Hurricane could reach $55 billion.
  • This estimate includes losses to both the private insurance market and those policies covered under the National Flood Insurance Program.
• It would be a major catastrophe for the affected region, resulting in a large proportion of roads blocked by fallen trees, as well as extensive damage to power lines, telephone lines, and cell phone transmission towers.
• While thousands of people would be displaced, significant destruction would be limited to certain towns along the coast. Many potentially affected individuals have insurance and would be able to find alternative temporary accommodation, so the scale of dislocation experienced in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 would not occur.

“The 1938 Great New England Hurricane: Looking to the Past to Understand Today's Risk” can be downloaded free of charge.

Source: Risk Management Solutions

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