Hurricane Season Ends with a Whimper

Between June 1 and November 30, 2009, only nine named storms developed in the Atlantic basin, three of which became hurricanes. These are the lowest totals in each category since 1997, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

“The 2009 season is a welcome respite from 2008, when hurricanes Gustav and Ike disrupted hundreds of thousands of lives in Louisiana and Texas, and caused $14.65 billion in insured losses,” said Dr. Robert Hartwig, an economist and president of the I.I.I. “Profits in an industry like insurance must be seen over the long term. A single hurricane, or a string of large losses, can wipe out insurer profits from previous years, or even decades. And insurers must be prepared to pay for these losses, irrespective of the current economic conditions.”

The nine named storms, according to a Colorado State University analysis of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, were, in chronological order: