Triple-I: 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season Generated Above-Average Activity

For immediate release
Florida Press Office: Mark Friedlander, 904-806-7813, markf@iii.org

ST. JOHNS, Fla., Nov. 30, 2021—The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends today, was above-average and the third most active on record for named storms, with 21 storms forming this year, trailing only 2020 (30) and 2005 (28), according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I).

This year’s 21 named storms included seven hurricanes, with four of the seven reaching major hurricane (Category 3, 4, or 5) intensity. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says an average hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

“As the nation’s financial first responders, insurers helped their customers recover economically from the impacts of another very active hurricane season in 2021,” said Sean Kevelighan, CEO, Triple-I. “The widespread damage the United States experienced across many regions highlighted the importance of being financially protected from catastrophic losses and that includes having adequate levels of property insurance and flood coverage. In fact, we not only saw historic levels of flooding in coastal areas this year but throughout inland communities, as well.” 

To help increase resilience to extreme weather events and fast-track recovery after a natural disaster, the Triple-I launched its Resilience Accelerator.

The seasonal forecast in June 2021 from Triple-I non-resident scholar Phil Klotzbach, PhD, and the hurricane forecast team at Colorado State University, called for “above-average activity” with 18 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

Hurricane Ida was the most damaging storm this season, knocking out power to more than one million Louisiana residents and causing extensive water outages, as well. Ida made landfall at Port Fourchon, La., on Aug. 29 as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour.

Nearly every structure in Grand Isle, La., sustained substantial damage from Ida, with 40 percent of the coastal community’s properties destroyed. Several catastrophe modelers project Ida to be among the top five costliest tropical storms on record in terms of insured losses, in part because Ida caused widespread wind and flood-generated damage in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Over the past two hurricane seasons, 18 named storms have made a mainland U.S. landfall. Seven of them impacted Louisiana.

The other hurricane to strike the U.S. this year was Nicholas, which made landfall near Sargent Beach, Texas, on Sept. 14 as a Category 1 storm. Tropical storms that made a U.S. landfall in 2021 included Danny (South Carolina) in June; Elsa (Florida) in July; Fred (Florida) and Henri (Rhode Island) in August; and Mindy (Florida) in September.

Other highlights from the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season included:

·    Tropical Storm Ana formed on May 22, making it the seventh consecutive year at least one named storm formed before the official hurricane season starting date of June 1

·    Nine named storms formed in September, with the strongest being Sam, which reached Category 4 intensity; Hurricane Sam remained at major hurricane strength for nearly eight days but never made landfall

·    The only named storm to form in October was Wanda, and no named storms formed in November

RELATED LINKS:

Video: 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season Recap—Triple-I Non-Resident Scholar Dr. Phil Klotzbach
Article: Spotlight On: Flood Insurance

The Triple-I has a full library of educational videos on its YouTube Channel. Information about Triple-I mobile apps can be found here.