HURRICANES

Hurricanes are one of the most powerful forces of nature on the planet. Capable of delivering sustained wind speeds in excess of 180 mph, the potential for destruction is enormous. Hurricane Katrina, which struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, is a prime example of the devastation that these storms can cause. In just a few hours, Katrina's storm surge inundated New Orleans, Louisiana, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,800 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. Under climate change, these storms are expected to become more intense, dropping more rain and maintaining higher, more destructive windspeeds. While a lot of attention has been paid to specific events, such as Hurricane Katrina, far less is known about the broader distribution of hurricane risk, how this has evolved over time (through population movements and defensive investments), and how the consequences of hurricanes are distributed across individuals within the population.

Using data on all hurricanes that have made landfall in the United States since 1980, combined with rich administrative records for almost every legal resident over this same period, we are working to provide a more comprehensive understanding of hurricane risk in the United States.