The threat of a hurricane hitting the Baltimore region in the next five years is 25 percent to 30 percent greater than in years past, according to statistics from a California company.
Risk Management Solutions, a California company specializing in catastrophe, weather and enterprise risk management products and services, said in its recent hurricane-season assessment that the increased threat along the entire mid Atlantic and Northeast coastal regions is up to 30 percent greater than historical average.
Maryland generally is hit every two to three years with high winds, significant rainfall and storm surge from hurricanes and tropical storms, according to the state?s Emergency Management Agency.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30 each year.
Risk Management also said the risk of a hurricane landing in Florida or along the Gulf Coast region ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is about 40 percent higher than historical average.
Darlene Frank, director of public affairs for the Maryland Insurance Administration, said while the state takes steps to educate residents about the danger of catastrophes, there?s just so much anagency can do.
“At some point, individuals have to step up to the plate and take matters into their own hands,” Frank said.
The agency offers online publications including a guide to natural disasters that address steps residents should take before and after any type of natural disaster.
Joan Hooper, proprietor of the Karl J. Mattheiss Insurance Agency in Falston, said Maryland homeowners more often face threats from floods than from hurricanes.
“Other than leftover hurricanes, we?ve never really be hit,” she said. “Most go up the coast and don?t come in this far.”
Hooper recommended that homeowners check with their insurance agents often to review policies and ensure coverage is adequate.
“People don?t like insurance and only want to buy what they have to,” she said.
But unlike other areas prone to hurricanes, homeowners in the Baltimore area don?t have to worry about separate coverage for wind damage caused by powerful storms. That is covered under most homeowners? policies, Hooper said.
More information
» The Maryland Insurance Administration offers its “Insurance Preparedness for Natural Disasters” publication online at its Web site, www.mdinsurance.state.md.us. Click the “Consumer Information” tab and go to publications. The booklet is also available by calling 800-496-6116.
