Roosevelt Island Hurricane Insurance Update

Saturday's NY Times had an article on the increasing cost of hurricane insurance that was the subject of this previous post. According to the article:

The hurricane deductibles are now reaching New England and the New York metropolitan region — areas that can be affected by Atlantic hurricanes.

“I just got it in my renewal, and I live in Rhode Island,” said David Hammarstrom, a spokesman for MetLife Auto & Home. “I hadn’t had it before.”

According to the Insurance Information Institute (www.iii.org), 18 states and the District of Columbia have hurricane deductibles, including Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

There are two kinds of wind damage deductibles: those that apply specifically to named hurricanes and those that apply to windstorms or wind and hail damage. Percentages range from 1 to 5 percent of a home’s insured value, but in some coastal areas the deductible can be as high as 25 percent.

“The rationale behind the coastal deductibles is that we’re seeing an explosion of growth along hurricane-exposed coastlines,” Mr. Hartwig said, noting that 53 percent of the population now lives within 50 miles of a coastline.

“At the same time, living along the coast is becoming demonstrably more risky,” he said. “We’re in the midst of a cycle of hurricane activity that will be more frequent and more intense.”

Here is some additional information from United Policy Holders and and more from Insurance Information Institute.
Image is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administation (NOAA) History web site describing 1943 "Surprise" Houston - Galveston Texas hurricane that killed more than 275 people.

Update - 9/18. Via Roosevelt Island 360:

This Friday, September 21, 2007, at 2:30 pm on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network [Channel 34 Time Warner/Channel 82 RCN], Community Board 8 will rebroadcast "Hurricane Preparedness Comes to Roosevelt Island".

And:

According to Elizabeth McKee of Community Board 8 the broadcast is a videotape of the July 20, 2006 event that took place at the Church of Good Shepherd which was sponsored by CB8.

The July 20, meeting was referenced here. It would be a great community service for Community Board 8 to upload the video to the web, perhaps a series of 5 minute You Tube clips, for those who are not able to watch on Friday.
Good job by Roosevelt Island 360 in getting more information on topic.