Hurricane Helene Wreaked Havoc on the South — and, Potentially, Its Insurance Market

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted an ugly hurricane season earlier this year — and last week, Hurricane Helene proved that projection true.

After making landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, the storm plowed its way north through Georgia and the Carolinas. And although Helene rapidly degraded to a tropical storm as it moved inland, it left a trail of destruction in its wake, including the deaths of at least 119 people across six different states at the time this article was written.

While human costs are always higher and more tragic than economic losses, Helene wreaked plenty of financial havoc, too — so much so that insurance companies may be unable to pay all filed claims.

Even homeowners lucky enough to have weathered the storm without significant damage could face untenable insurance hikes in the coming months — even though premiums already cost more than ever (for less coverage).

The costs of Hurricane Helene’s destruction

While the true total of Helene’s damage will take months to accurately calculate, some experts have made estimates as high as $110 billion.

Even given the recent trend of high-cost storms, that figure would make Helene a stand-out — one of the most expensive storms in U.S. history. (For comparison, 1992’s Hurricane Andrew caused $27 billion in damages, or about $60.2 billion in today’s dollars.)

An outlier in every way, Hurricane Helene was the first Category 4 hurricane to hit Florida’s Big Bend region since the 19th century. Even so, many Floridians are braced for impact each summer, ready to board up their homes and evacuate at any moment; other Sunbelt residents usually don’t have as much to worry about. (In fact, Florida hurricane evacuees often head north to evade more typical storms.)

Not this time. Helene brought flooding described as "Biblical" and "apocalyptic" to western North Carolina, wiping out buildings, destroying roadways and all but leveling small towns. Residents as far afield as Virginia and Kentucky experienced related power outages.

Of course, all that damage means lots of incoming homeowners insurance claims — largely in markets that have already been going through what’s been described as a "crisis."

How Hurricane Helene could impact homeowners insurance — and more

As billion-dollar weather events have been on the rise, insurance companies have been feeling the squeeze of increased claims — causing some insurers to pull their homeowners policies from disaster-prone areas (including Florida) entirely.

Often, the insurers left behind offer bare-bones policies for premiums so high, even financially savvy homeowners make the risky choice to self-insure.

While some new companies have come in to fill the gaps left by the old standards, they often have less experience and less capital behind them — which means the overwhelming cost of Helene’s destruction could leave them bankrupt, perhaps before they can afford to pay out claims. Some Florida residents are still waiting for claims to be settled from Hurricane Ian, which rolled through in September 2022.

Even for homeowners whose property went untouched, Hurricane Helene’s legacy could be higher premiums, less available coverage or both.

And as the prevalence of these mega-storms increase, living in a place that’s regularly in the "cone of uncertainty" during hurricane season could become functionally impossible — or at least extremely expensive.