Report: 72% of Gulf Coast Homes Have Roofs Susceptible to Hurricane Damage

Arturo released its inaugural report “Hurricane Exposure: The State of Gulf Homes” that analyzes more than 17 million homes across the South Central and Southeast United States ahead of a forecasted above-average hurricane season.

The report finds 71.9% of rooftops in the analyzed states are asphalt shingle, which can only withstand wind speeds up to 110 mph, or Category 3 force winds. Older or degraded asphalt may only withstand winds up to 50 mph. Metal roofs are more wind-resistant, able to withstand winds up to 160 mph (Category 5), but they only make up 6% of roofs in the region.

Arturo’s report finds:

• Hip roofs comprise 52% of Texas homes, 47% of Louisiana homes, 44% of Florida homes, and 42.3% of homes across the whole Southeast. While more expensive to build, they are more durable under strong hurricane winds, making them more appealing over gable roofs.
• 257,000 homes in the Southeast have solar panels, including 2.1% of Florida and 1.9% of Texas homes. While they can provide additional power to homes during outages, they can shatter when struck by hail or damaged by lightning strikes. They can be a financial liability if not properly insured.
• 691,663 homes have skylights across the Gulf Coast states. It would cost more than $1 billion to replace all of these skylights, which are susceptible to hail and wind damage and could cause internal water damage to homes if broken.

Arturo’s Hurricane Exposure Report analyzed approximately 17,398,366 single family homes across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina covering 579,000 square miles.

Arturo is a deep learning company offering physical property characteristic data and predictive analysis for residential and commercial properties for use in the property/casualty insurance, reinsurance, lending, and securities markets.