Special Report

Naples, FL Among the US Cities Most Vulnerable to Costly Hurricane Damage

Samuel Stebbins

Published: October 23, 2021 8:00 am

So far, 2021 has been a historic year for natural disasters in the United States. There were a record 18 weather and climate disasters costing more than $1 billion each in the first nine months of 2021, according to a report from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Wildfires, severe storms, tornadoes, and extreme temperatures resulted in 538 deaths and $104.8 billion in damage nationwide from January through September — eclipsing totals from all of 2020.

Going forward, climate change will likely only continue to contribute to the increased frequency and severity of natural disasters, including hurricanes — the deadliest and most destructive classification of natural disaster threatening the United States. Over the past two decades, hurricanes have killed an average of over 300 Americans per year and resulted in overall damage totalling nearly $1 trillion.

According to a recent report from CoreLogic — a property information, analytics, and data provider — nearly 8 million single-family homes are at risk of storm surge damage from hurricanes, and over 31 million homes are at risk of damage from hurricane winds nationwide. These risks are disproportionately shouldered by metropolitan areas along the Eastern Seaboard and along the Gulf of Mexico.

Located on the Gulf Coast in southern Florida, Naples is at risk of considerable hurricane damage. Nearly 200,000 residential properties — with an estimated replacement value of $44.5 billion — in the Naples metro area are exposed to potential flooding damage from a storm surge. Nearly 385,000 local homes are at risk of wind damage in the event of a hurricane.

As recently as 2017, Naples was hit hard by Hurricane Irma. Though the metro area was spared the worst of the Category 3 storm, it caused widespread wind and flood damage and spilled tens of millions of gallons of sewage into homes, streets, and parks.

All data on the number of at-risk homes and reconstruction cost value is from CoreLogic’s 2021 Hurricane Report. Metropolitan areas are ranked on the number of single-family residential structures less than four stories at moderate or greater risk of damage from storm surge flooding in the 2021 hurricane season.