It Figures

1,000

Emergency management officials in Polk County, Ark., said about 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during the tornadoes that ripped through the county on April 9. James Reeves, Polk County emergency management coordinator, said 200 homes were destroyed by the twister, approximately 400 homes sustained moderate damage, and another 400 sustained minor damage in the storm. Reeves said the number of damaged homes could increase as emergency officials and surveyors with the Federal Emergency Management Agency conduct assessments on the ground. He said the city will need help for weeks to recover from the storm that killed three.

$2.4 Billion

Property/casualty insurers earned $2.4 billion in net income after taxes in 2008, but profits and profitability tumbled as catastrophe losses, the recession and the crisis in the financial system took a toll on underwriting and investment results. The industry’s $2.4 billion in net income after taxes last year was down $60.1 billion, or 96.2 percent, from $62.5 billion in 2007, according to ISO and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Insurers suffered $21.2 billion in net losses on underwriting in 2008 — a $40.5 billion adverse swing from insurers’ $19.3 billion in net gains in 2007. The combined ratio worsened to 105.1 percent last year from 95.5 percent in 2007. Despite the declines, the full-year 2008 financial results show that private U.S. property casualty insurers remain well capitalized, posting $455.6 billion in policyholders’ surplus (or statutory net worth) at year-end 2008.

12

Colorado State University’s hurricane team has lowered its 2009 Atlantic forecast to 12 tropical storms, of which six could become hurricanes, down from the 14 storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes predicted in December 2008, Reuters reported. Researchers said there could be two “major” hurricanes of Category 3 or higher on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale. Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean have cooled in recent months and there are signs that the eastern Pacific Ocean could see the current weak La Nina conditions change to neutral or even weak El Nino by June. El Nino is a warm water phenomenon that can suppress Atlantic hurricane formation.

Topics Catastrophe Hurricane