Blizzards, cold temperatures, icy roads and major winter stormsoften result in heavy property damage.
|Businesses, homeowners and vehicle owners can suffer expensivelosses when snow and cold weather hit.
|According to data from Munich Re, winter storms caused an estimated$3.5 billion in insured losses in 2015, up from $2.6 billionin 2014.
|From 1995 to 2014 winter storms resulted in about $27 billion ininsured catastrophe losses (in 2014 dollars), or more than $1billion a year on average, according to the Insurance Information Institute and datafrom Property Claim Services.
|Winter property totals include agricultural, offshore, marine,aviation and National Flood Insurance Program losses.
|Related: 4 ways to lessen winter insurancewoes
|Here are the 15 costliest winter events by insured losses in theU.S. from 1980-2015, as ranked by the Insurance InformationInstitute:
|
Blizzard conditions in Lubbock, Texas, Monday, Feb. 25,2013. The storm system packing snow and high winds tracked eastwardacross western Texas toward Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. NationalWeather Service officials in Kansas and Oklahoma issued blizzardwarnings and watches. (AP Photo/Betsy Blaney)
|15. Blizzard, winter damage
Dates: Feb. 24-25, 2013.
States impacted: Louisiana, Oklahoma andTexas.
|Overall losses (when occurred): $1,000million.
|Insured losses (when occurred): $690million.
|Deaths: 1.
|Related: Information is power: Here's how agents can preparefor winter storm claims
|
A Delta MD-80 aircraft is de-iced before cleared for flightat Laguardia Airport in New York, Saturday February 3, 1996. Snowand ice delayed flights out of Laguardia until midday. (APPhoto/Steven E. Frischling)
|14. Winter damage
Dates: Jan. 31-Feb. 6,1996.
States impacted: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut,Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri,Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,West Virginia and Wisconsin.
|Overall losses: $1,500 million.
|Insured losses: $740 million.
|Deaths: 16.
|
A severe winter storm approaching the Sierra Nevada and theLake Tahoe Basin causes delays at the base of U.S. 50 in Meyers,Calif., on Friday, January, 4, 2008. A fierce arctic storm poundedCalifornia, threatening to soak mudslide-prone canyons alreadycharred by wildfires and to paralyze the mountains with deep snow.(AP Photo/Chad Lundquist)
|13. Winter storm
Dates: Jan. 4-9,2008.
States impacted: Arkansas, California, Colorado,Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York,Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington andWisconsin.
|Overall losses: $1,000 million.
|Insured losses: $750 million.
|Deaths: 12.
|Related: 10 best all-wheel drive cars and SUVs in thesnow
|
Vehicles attempt to travel on a snow covered I-70 highwaynear Columbia, Mo. during a snow and ice storm, Friday, Jan. 1,1999. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)
|12. Winter storm
Dates: Jan. 1-4, 1999.
States impacted: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut,Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri,Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, NewJersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, SouthCarolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and WestVirginia.
|Overall losses: $1,000 million.
|Insured losses: $780 million.
|Deaths: 25.
|
(Photo: iStock)
|11. Winter damage
Dates: Feb. 10-12, 1994.
States impacted: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina,Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
|Overall losses: $3,000 million.
|Insured losses: $800 million.
|Deaths: 9.
|Related: Snow, ice and frozen pipes: Are you covered? The 6things every homeowner needs to know
|
(Photo: iStock)
|10. Winter damage, cold wave
Dates: Jan. 17-20, 1994.
States impacted: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana,Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, North Carolina,New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, RhodeIsland, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont andWest Virginia.
|Overall losses: $1,000 million.
|Insured losses: $800 million.
|Deaths: 70.
|
(Photo: iStock)
|9. Winter damage, cold wave
Dates: Dec. 17-30, 1983.
States impacted: Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois,Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana,Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio,Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, SouthDakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, WestVirginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
|Overall losses: $1,000 million.
|Insured losses: $880 million.
|Deaths: 500.
|
A a group of people stop along Interstate 91 to help push acar out of a snow bank during a winter storm in Windsor, Conn.,Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
|8. Winter storm, snowstorms, winter damage
Dates: Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 2011.
States impacted: Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois,Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, New York, Ohio,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas andWisconsin.
|Overall losses: $1,300 million.
|Insured losses: $980 million.
|Deaths: 36.
|Related: Early Feb. storm could cost insurers$1.4B
|
Plastic garbage bags and other refuse float along 14thStreet at the height of a giant winter storm which sent the watersof the East River surging into the streets, Dec. 11, 1992. Acombination of high winds and a high tide created the havoc whichnearly paralyzed portions of New York City. (AP Photo/JacBarba)
|7. Winter storm
Dates: Dec. 10-13, 1992.
States impacted: Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey,New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, RhodeIsland and Virginia.
|Overall losses: $3,000 million.
|Insured losses: $1,000 million.
|Deaths: 19.
|
A large uprooted tree lies across the yard of a house acrossthe street from McKennan Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Thursday,April 11, 2013. An ice storm followed by more than 6 inches ofheavy, wet snow downed trees and power lines across the city. (APPhoto/Dirk Lammers)
|6. Winter storm
Dates: April 7-11, 2013.
States impacted: California, Indiana, Kansas,Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota andWisconsin.
|Overall losses: $1,500 million.
|Insured losses: $1,200 million.
|Deaths: N/A.
|
Flooding on Main Street in Bound Brook, N.J., Sunday, March14, 2010. Several inches of rain fell in the area causing theRaritan River to overflow. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)
|5. Winter storm, floods
Dates: March 13-15, 2010.
States impacted: Connecticut, Massachusetts, NewHampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania andRhode Island.
|Overall losses: $1,700 million.
|Insured losses: $1,200 million.
|Deaths: 11.
|
Local police attend to a car that has spun off the road onRTE 9, Sunday April 15, 2007, in Henniker, N.H. A powerfulnor'easter pounded the East with wind and pouring rain. (APPhoto/Cheryl Senter)
|4. Winter storm, tornadoes, floods
Dates: April 13-17, 2007.
States impacted: Connecticut, Delaware, WashingtonD.C., Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine,Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Jew Jersey, New York,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia,Vermont and West Virginia.
|Overall losses: $2,000 million.
|Insured losses: $1,600 million.
|Deaths: 19.
This Jan. 8, 2014, file photo shows homes covered in snowand ice in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
|3. Winter damage, cold wave
Dates: Jan. 5-8, 2014.
States impacted: Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia,Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine,Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina,Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,Tennessee, Virginia and WestVirginia.
|Overall losses: $2,500 million.
|Insured losses: $1,700 million.
|Deaths: N/A.
|
A New York City taxi driver tries to free his cab from snowpiled up by street plows early Sunday morning March 15, 1993, inlower Manhattan, after a winter storm hit the metropolitan areaSaturday. About 10 inches of snow plus rain and sleet combined withhigh winds and low temperatures with the occasional thunder andlightning complicated coping with the major storm. (AP Photo/MikeAlbans)
|2. Blizzard
Dates: March 11-14, 1993.
States impacted: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware,Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland,Maine, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, NewYork, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee,Texas, Virginia, Vermont and WestVirginia.
|Overall losses: $5,000 million.
|Insured losses: $2,000 million.
|Deaths: 270.
|
In this Feb. 16, 2015 file photo, icicles hang frombuildings on Beacon Street in Boston as New England remainedbitterly cold after the region's fourth winter storm in a monthblew through. For many cities in the Northeast, it was the coldestFebruary on record, and some places recorded the most days of zeroor below temperatures. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
|1. Winter storm, winter damage
Dates: Feb. 16-25, 2015.
States impacted: Connecticut, Washington D.C.,Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine,Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee,Virginia and Vermont.
|Overall losses: $2,800 million.
|Insured losses: $2,100 million.
|Deaths: 39.
|Related: The big freeze: 5 signs your pipes are frozen andhow to thaw them
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- All PropertyCasualty360.com news coverage, best practices, and in-depth analysis.
- Educational webcasts, resources from industry leaders, and informative newsletters.
- Other award-winning websites including BenefitsPRO.com and ThinkAdvisor.com.
Already have an account? Sign In
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
