Residents and the insurance industry in Southeast states are feeling relieved after Hurricane Dorian grazed the U.S. coastline last week just days after it caused catastrophic damage in the Bahamas.<\/p>\n
While the storm was at one point a Category 3 as it headed toward South Carolina, it ultimately stayed mostly offshore, bringing some flooding and damage but mostly sparing the region \u2013 a dramatic difference than what Dorian did to the Bahamas when it hit several islands with 210 mph winds. Damage estimates there have reached as high as $7 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone in the state I believe is breathing a sigh of relief,\u201d South Carolina Director of Insurance Raymond Farmer said in an interview on Friday. \u201cThe eye of the storm got real close to our coast and the bands on that western side took up about half the state, but the eye never got on land here in South Carolina. The damage is somewhat lighter than everyone thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to CoreLogic, Dorian made landfall off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. It brought some heavy rains and storm surge to the coast of South Carolina, but nothing like what was originally anticipated.<\/p>\n
Farmer said on Friday afternoon claims were coming in but in much smaller numbers than what was originally feared when the storm was first forecast to come through the state. Farmer said flooding was reported in Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head and there was also flooding in Charleston, but the water was already receding Friday afternoon. Farmer said about four tornadoes were confirmed as of Friday, but extensive damage was not reported.<\/p>\n
Still, Farmer issued a data call on Friday for all licensed property and casualty insurers in the state with claims related to Hurricane Dorian, with the first due date being Sept. 23, 2019 for all catastrophe claims data reported as of Sept. 18, 2019. Three other reports will be required through April 2020. Farmer also issued a bulletin requiring insurers to work with impacted insureds and businesses and provide relief from certain insurance requirements.<\/p>\n
In North Carolina, Dorian left a larger trail of destruction \u2013 spawning at least 25 tornadoes and causing massive flooding on Ocracoke Island and the Outer Banks. Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said there are numerous claims being reported but the damage is not as severe as what the state experienced from Hurricane Florence last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the storm came in, some of the coastal areas were at low tide so we didn\u2019t see the storm surge that we could have had and the flooding is not nearly as bad as it was during Hurricane Florence,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it is still a problem because there\u2019s a lot of people that did receive damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of Monday evening, Causey said more than 3,300 claims had been reported, with the majority of those in Carteret County.<\/p>\n
Causey said he issued a directive to insurers to allow other adjusters to come into the state and assist with adjusting claims. NCDOI will coordinate the arrival of adjusters to help homeowners and businesses, and will also assist with a plan for collecting and disposing of the many flooded vehicles on Ocracoke Island. Causey is urging consumers to be on the lookout for fraud during their recovery and he said agents should also report anything that seems suspicious.<\/p>\n \u201cIf [agents] suspect there is fraud in a claim or in something going on, report it to the North Carolina Department of Insurance Criminal Investigation Division \u2013 they can do it anonymously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Causey said he has been heartened by the support from numerous other state insurance departments and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, who all reached out to offer assistance with North Carolina\u2019s recovery. Insurance claims villages would likely be set up later this week, he noted.<\/p>\n North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper visited Ocracoke Island on Sunday to see the damage and said the flooding has been devastating for many in the area. About 200 people in North Carolina were in shelters and 57,000 were without power as of mid-day Saturday, according to the governor\u2019s office. As of Monday, the number of homes and businesses without power had gone down to 3,600. Most outages were in Hyde and Craven County, and about 1,500 of those outages on Ocracoke Island.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office said Monday that North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) has requested assistance from FEMA in conducting joint preliminary damage assessments in storm-affected counties.<\/p>\n \u201cThe collective thoughts from people is they are pulling together and getting through this,\u201d Cooper said in a press conference. \u201cOverall this could have been much worse for our state.\u201d<\/p>\n Online flood insurer Neptune Flood writes flood coverage in several coastal states in the Southeast, including Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, but CEO Jim Albert said the company is seeing very little claim activity from Dorian, which he said he is hopeful is a good sign that policyholders withstood the storm without damage.<\/p>\n \u201cDorian was a very different storm but from what I hear in talking to some of our policyholders and people who live in North and South Carolina \u2013 this was less of an event than Florence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said in an e-mail to Insurance Journal that it would be issuing a data call to insurers for Dorian claims.<\/p>\n \u201cOIR expects insurers to be accessible and responsive to policyholders in the handling of claims and will hold insurers accountable for non-compliance,\u201d OIR said.<\/p>\n President of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents Jeff Grady said they have contacted several coastal agency members up and down the Florida east coast and have received no damage reports to date.<\/p>\n \u201cThankfully, it appears that Dorian was a non-event for Florida\u2026 it seems as if we dodged a bullet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n South Carolina Insurance Director Farmer emphasized that though the state was spared major damage from Dorian, peak hurricane season has just started.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is early and hopefully this is the only storm we\u2019re going to see this season, but if it\u2019s not we\u2019re prepared,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The industry says it is typical to see increased interest in flood insurance after a major event like Dorian.<\/p>\n Albert said 40 percent of their book of business is in non-mandatory flood zones, and the company saw an uptick in policy acquisition and at least a 25% increase in coverage interest after Florence hit the Carolinas last year. Agents, he said, are really helping to drive home the importance of flood insurance and events like Dorian are prime examples of why policyholders need the coverage.<\/p>\n \u201cHistorically, when talking to customers, agents have always led with homeowners\u2019 insurance and then go back and offer flood insurance,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we see changing is they are now leading the conversation with flood insurance \u2026 that\u2019s really new and it\u2019s driven by giant storms like Florence and Dorian and the constant attention to climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n Causey said last year after Hurricane Florence there were about 88,000 claims denied by insurers because they were flood-related and not covered on a homeowners policy. Since Florence, Causey said the number of policyholders in the state with flood coverage has increased slightly from 135,000 to 141,000, but that number needs to be much higher.<\/p>\n NCDOI has hosted several flood conferences around the state and plans to focus on enhancing the state\u2019s private flood insurance market in 2020 with offerings that include better coverage and rates than the NFIP.<\/p>\n After Dorian, Causey hopes more residents will see the need for flood insurance.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been talking about and tried to get out to folks is everybody in North Carolina lives in a flood zone,\u201d he said. \u201cIf it rains where you live, you need flood insurance. I believe as more people see how often these storms are coming in and the high chance we have for flooding in areas that have never flooded before, we will see more and more people deciding to buy flood insurance from the private market.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/app\/uploads\/2019\/09\/North-Carolina_Hurricane-Dorian-Damage-2_AP-580x326.jpg\")
Dorian An Opportunity for Flood Insurance Education<\/h5>\n