“Kitty Cat” Storms Wreck Insurance Companies

The insurance industry term for small but powerful storms is “kitty cat’. The huge and violent ones that can range across several states are called “nat cats.” “Kitty cats” are hard to forecast, representing an outsized risk to the insurance industry.

Climate Safety –Move To Detroit?

Route Fifty recently pointed out that smaller storms are a “less-talked-about kind of disaster that has wreaked havoc on states in the Midwest and the Great Plains, causing billions of dollars in damage.” There have been a record number of tornadoes so far this year. Hail storms have been unusually large. Flooding has been pervasive.

Smaller, More Powerful Storms

Insurance rates have been rising in Florida and Louisiana for two years because of large and violent hurricanes, which are more powerful, in many cases, than in years past. Rates are so high in some areas that they go up double digests. In some cases, insurance will not be available at all. People who live in these areas and cannot afford insurance have started to sell their homes at a loss.

Even for people who do not move, according to Route Fifty, “The cost of rebuilding a home has increased due to inflation and supply-chain shortages, which drives up prices.”

One of the lessons of “Kitty Cats” is that fewer and fewer places are safe in America when measured by the threat of damaging storms.

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