2018 Natural Hazard Report 2018 Natural Hazard Report g January 2019 Executive Summary 2018 was an eventful year worldwide. Wildfires scorched the West Coast of the United States; Hurricanes Michael and Florence battered the Gulf and East Coast. Typhoons and cyclones alike devastated the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan and Oman. Earthquakes caused mass casualties in Indonesia, business interruption in Japan and structure damage in Alaska. Volcanoes made the news in Hawaii, expanding the island’s terrain. 1,000-year flood events (or floods that are said statistically to have a 1 in 1,000 chance of occurring) took place in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin once again. Severe convective storms pelted Dallas, Texas, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, with large hail while a rash of tornado outbreaks, spawning 82 tornadoes in total, occurred from Western Louisiana and Arkansas all the way down to Southern Florida and up to Western Virginia. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)1, there were 11 weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion in the U.S. Although last year’s count of billion- dollar events is a decrease from the previous year, both 2017 and 2018 have tracked far above the 1980- 2017 annual average of $6 billion events. In this report, CoreLogic® takes stock of the 2018 events to protect homeowners and businesses from the financial devastation that often follows catastrophe. No one can stop a hurricane in its tracks or steady the ground from an earthquake, but with more information and an understanding of the risk, recovery can be accelerated and resiliency can be attained. This assessment covers an analysis of what the risk and exposure looked like, what happened during the event and the residential and commercial losses which occurred in the aftermath for each notable climatological event. All the data in this report is current to November 30, 2018, unless denoted otherwise. 1 https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events © 2018 CoreLogic, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 Proprietary. This material may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission. 2018 Natural Hazard Report g January 2019 Table of Contents Hurricane (Tropical Cyclone) .............................................................................................................................4 Atlantic Hurricanes ........................................................................................................................................4 Pacific Hurricanes .........................................................................................................................................6 International Events ......................................................................................................................................7 Cyclone Mekunu ......................................................................................................................................7 Typhoon Mangkhut (Ompong) ...............................................................................................................8 Flood ....................................................................................................................................................................10 1,000-Year Floods Again .............................................................................................................................10 Hurricanes: A Contributing Cause to Severe Inland Flooding ..............................................................11 Factors Influencing Flood Severity ............................................................................................................12 Wind .....................................................................................................................................................................14 Thunderstorms .............................................................................................................................................16 Wildfire .................................................................................................................................................................18 Major Fires in 2018 ........................................................................................................................................20 2018 Compared to the Previous 10 Years ................................................................................................24 Earthquake ........................................................................................................................................................26 Alaska Earthquake (M7.0) ..........................................................................................................................27 Hokkaido Earthquake (M6.6) ....................................................................................................................28 Sulawesi/Palu Earthquake and Tsunami (M7.5) .......................................................................................28 Volcano ...............................................................................................................................................................29 Mt. Kilauea Volcanic Eruption ...................................................................................................................29 Hail .......................................................................................................................................................................32 2018 Compared with Previous Years ........................................................................................................32 State/Metro Areas with the Most Activity and Damage Costs..............................................................34 Tornado ...............................................................................................................................................................36 State/Metro Areas with the Most Activity and Damage Costs .............................................................36 Report Contributors ...........................................................................................................................................38 © 2018 CoreLogic, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 Proprietary. This material may not be reproduced in any form without express written permission. 2018 Natural Hazard Report g January 2019 Hurricane (Tropical Cyclone) The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season saw above average storm activity, deviating from earlier projections2 at the start of hurricane season. The season ended with 15 named storms, eight of which were named hurricanes. Two of these, Hurricanes3 Florence and Michael, made landfall along the U.S. This made 2018 the third consecutive season of above-average hurricane activity in the Atlantic. Atlantic Hurricanes At its most powerful, Hurricane Florence was a Category 4 storm. It eventually made landfall as a strong yet slow-moving Category 1 hurricane off the coast of North Carolina on September 14 with wind gusts up to 105 mph. It caused significant damage in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. In these states, approximately 700,000 residential and commercial properties experienced catastrophic flooding and wind damage. Figure 1: Hurricane Florence Wind Footprint (Source: CoreLogic, NHC) Table 1: Hurricane Florence Residential and Commercial Loss (Source: CoreLogic) 2 https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/outlooks/hurricane2018/May/hurricane.shtml 3 http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/A1.html 2018 Natural Hazard Report g January 2019 The largest losses were a result of inland flooding as Florence eventually stalled and moved slowly inland, causing a downpour on already water-logged land. Roughly 85 percent of residential losses from flooding were uninsured. Unlike wind damage, flood is covered separately from a standard homeowners’ policy and is not mandatory to purchase outside of Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs). Weeks later, Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane along the Florida Panhandle on October 10. The maximum sustained wind speed at landfall was 155 mph, just 2 mph short of Category 5 classification. Michael is the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the Florida Panhandle since 1900 and the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Table 2: Hurricane Michael Residential and Commercial Loss (Source: CoreLogic) Unlike Florence, Michael was a compact, fast-moving storm; this mitigated the potential of widespread damage. The Florida Panhandle did not receive nearly the same rainfall totals as experienced during Florence (2018) or Harvey (2017). 2018 Natural Hazard Report g January 2019 Figure 2: Notable Category 3 Atlantic Hurricanes (Source: NHC) Pacific Hurricanes Earlier in the season, Hurricane Lane came close to the Hawaiian Islands but did not make landfall. At its strongest, it was a Category 5 hurricane, but as it skimmed along the edge of the islands, the main impact came from the outer bands' tropical storm force winds and over 50 inches of rain.4 As a result, the loss experienced from wind during this event was low. 4 https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-lane-batters-hawaii-with-feet-of-rain-devastating-flooding-and- landslides/70005887 2018 Natural Hazard Report g January 2019 Figure 3: Notable Pacific Hurricanes (Source: NHC) Annually, between four and five tropical cyclones