A 1-in-100-year hurricane event in New York City could cost insurers more than $100 billion, according to an analysis by Karen Clark & Co (KCC). And a 1-in-250-year hurricane could cost insurers twice as much, the catastrophe modeler says.
While New York does not face the same natural catastrophe exposure as areas such as Florida, the state is not immune to large losses. New York has nearly $9 trillion in insured property exposure—$6 trillion of it concentrated in coastal counties—which means even rare events can create outsized losses, KCC says in its newest white paper, New York Exposure to Natural Catastrophes.
KCC notes that 11 hurricanes have impacted New York since 1850—the most famous of these being the Great New England Hurricane of 1938…