BUILDING & RENOVATION
The Changing Landscape of Extreme Weather
Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc., a Top 100 brokerage firm with a specialty in high-net-worth insurance, along with carrier partner PURE Insurance, elaborate on extreme weather and its changing landscape.
EDITED BY EDELINDA BAPTISTA
GETTY IMAGES / ONURDONGEL
2023 WAS A HISTORIC YEAR FOR EXTREME WEATHER. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there were twenty-eight confirmed climate disaster events in the U. S. that exceeded $ 1 billion in damages, breaking the previous record of twenty-two set in 2020. It was also the warmest year on record. Nineteen of the twenty-eight events were severe convective storms( SCS). The rest included four flooding events, two tropical cyclones, one drought, one wildfire and one winter storm.
These SCS have become an increasing concern for PURE and the insurance industry as a whole. Despite the headlines that major hurricanes and wildfires receive, SCS have been the costliest natural disaster for the membership over the years, and the frequency and severity continue to intensify. In 2023, PURE responded to fifty-nine SCS, including a few that made the billion-dollarevent list. The result was more than $ 107 million in damages to the membership and more than 1,900 members’ lives disrupted by claims.
WINTER STORM IN THE NORTHEAST, FEBRUARY In early 2023, a winter storm brought heavy snow and freezing temperatures to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and New England. The membership experienced 155 claims totaling more than $ 26 million in losses. Nearly 90 percent of those claims were related to burst pipes, including thirteen large losses that drove about half of the cost.
CONVECTIVE STORM IN THE MIDWEST, APRIL This storm devastated several counties in Illinois and resulted in more than $ 12 million in covered losses among 161 members. Much of the damage was caused by hail or wind. The storm also brought heavy rain and flooding.
WILDFIRES IN HAWAII, AUGUST 2023’ s extreme weather also included the deadliest wildfire Hawaii has seen in over a century, with more than 100 fatalities and nearly 2,300 structures destroyed in Lahaina. All PURE members there are safe, thankfully, but twentyeight of them experienced losses and filed claims that totaled more than $ 27 million in damages. To date, this number continues to grow as PURE’ s claims professionals continue to help impacted members through the rebuild process.
52 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY’ S NEST | 2025