Texas’ extreme weather streak continues with Houston floods
The Lone Star State also faced massive wildfires earlier this year after record-breaking losses in 2023.
Floodwaters are receding in Texas after days of heavy rainfall led to disaster declarations in 88 counties, according to Governor Greg Abbott’s office, which reported that 232 federal, state and local agencies are responding to the storm.
As of May 6, 2024, the state had evacuated 124 people and rescued 58 residents, while local operations have rescued more than 500 people, according to a release from the governor’s office.
“As rivers continue to rise for days, we urge Texans around those regions to listen to local officials and take the precautions needed to protect themselves and their properties,” Abbott said in a release.
The flooding is the latest catastrophe to hit the Lone Star State, which accounted for 16 of the country’s 28 $1 billion disasters in 2023, according to Texas Farm Bureau.
In March 2024, the Texas panhandle experienced record-breaking wildfires that destroyed more than 1 million acres. The Smokehouse Creek fire, which spread to parts of Oklahoma, burned a larger area than all of the 2023 wildfires in Texas combined, according to CoreLogic.
Roughly 1,544 single-family residential properties with a combined reconstruction value of $356 million were located within the wildfire perimeter, CoreLogic reported.
The major flooding and record-breaking wildfires come a year after the state saw a barrage of claims from severe convection storms (SCS). High winds and hailstorms that accompany SCS events caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. CoreLogic reported that hail is becoming increasingly costly for insurers and should be modeled with the same scrutiny as hurricanes and earthquakes.
Some 2 million homes in Texas were hit by hail of at least 1 inch in diameter during 2023. For comparisons, golf balls are at least 1.68 inches in diameter, per USGA regulations.
CoreLogic reported that one week in May 2023 saw as much as $10 billion in insured losses due to “secondary perils” such as hail and straight-line winds.
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