Superstorm Sandy: Ohio’s 6th Costliest Natural Disaster

Superstorm Sandy in late October 2013 was Ohio’s sixth costliest natural disaster in recent history from an insured loss standpoint, an insurance trade group says.

Moving inland after devastating parts of the East Coast, Sandy finally dissipated on Oct. 31, after wreaking havoc in Ohio on Oct. 29-30 and causing $292 million in insured losses, according to the Ohio Insurance Institute.

Final insured-loss estimates from Superstorm Sandy stand at $18.75 billion from 1.58 million claims, nationally, most of which were homeowners insurance claims. The large majority of losses were in New York ($9.6 billion) and New Jersey ($6.3 billion).

The majority of storm-related losses in Ohio were concentrated in the northeastern part of the state, with wind and water back-up losses to homes, cars and businesses, the OII said.

Peak wind gusts of 68 mph were reported at Cleveland Hopkins Airport according to the National Weather Service-Cleveland.

Associated Press reported that Superstorm Sandy’s high winds and rains left over 250,000 Ohio customers without power. Outages to First Energy customers in the greater Cuyahoga County area were estimated at 238,000, forcing closures to area schools and businesses.

In February 2013, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) updated its estimates for the number of vehicles damaged as a result of Sandy to 250,500, based on auto insurance claims. New York and New Jersey accounted for 210,000 of the vehicles, with New York at 150,000 and New Jersey coming in second with 60,000.

Ohio ranked 7th nationally in the number of Sandy-damaged vehicles at 4,000 – tied with Pennsylvania. A federal disaster declaration for Cuyahoga County was issued on January 3, 2013.

The OII said 2012 overall was Ohio’s second costliest year in terms of insured losses from natural disasters; 2008 was Ohio’s costliest year, which included Hurricane Ike.

Source: OII

Topics Natural Disasters New York Ohio New Jersey