Last week's cold snap in the Northwest will be among Washington State's top six severe cold-weather events of the past 25 years, according to Seattle-based PEMCO Insurance.
The insurer's storm index predicted that it will pay around $4.3 million in claims. PEMCO has tracked data since 1984 for claims related to snow, cold, and windstorms, plus events like earthquakes, wildfires, and heavy rain. It ranks these events based on the number of claims and gross paid loss amount, which is recalculated into inflation-adjusted dollars.
PEMCO said that "the frigid temperatures that occurred from Dec. 7-13, 2009, prompted a rash of claims that should rank this event behind only five previous cold-weather events: snowstorms of Dec. 26-30, 1996 ($15.2 million); Dec. 18, 1990 ($7.5 million); Dec. 17 - Jan. 10, 2009 ($7.1 million); Feb. 1-10, 1985 ($6.7 million); and Feb. 1, 1989 ($4.7 million)."
Furthermore, the company speculated that the freeze also could break into Washington State's top 10 weather events of any kind, which includes major windstorms.
As of Dec. 15, PEMCO said it had received 244 claims related to the cold weather, mostly for frozen and burst water pipes. It said that cold-weather claims continue to trickle in, but are expected to return to near-normal by Dec. 20. However, some claims might not be reported for weeks, with people on vacation and owners of second homes being unaware of damage until they return. Also, boats might have suffered freezing damage that won't be detected until spring.
More information is available at www.pemco.com.
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