Precipitation-induced inland flood causes more property damage in the United States than any other natural disaster. On average, the U.S. experiences ground-up losses from precipitation-induced inland flood of more than $25 billion annually, according to the AIR Inland Flood Model. With continued development (much of it in flood-prone areas), rising property values and increasing numbers of extreme wet-weather events, this figure is expected to increase.
To illustrate the high risk of loss from inland flood in the United States, AIR created a megadisaster scenario that features an entire year of precipitation-induced inland flood events from the AIR U.S. inland flood model's stochastic catalog, with an aggregate ground-up loss of $100.8 billion — a loss level that has an exceedance probability (EP) of one percent (100-year return period). The scenario includes a wide range of inland flood events, with on- and off-floodplain flooding in several major river basins, short- and long-duration storm systems, and failed flood defenses. As shown in Figure 1, every state in the contiguous United States plus the District of Columbia experienced inland flood losses during the modeled year.
Inland floods in the United States
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
