Document Type

Student Conference

Semester of Graduation

Spring 2026

Abstract

Many residents living along the U.S. Gulf Coast face the issue of rising costs for property insurance due to the increasing impacts from more intense hurricanes. This study evaluates how North Atlantic hurricane (>= 33 ms-1) landfall wind speed and storm surge impact property insurance losses along the U.S. Gulf Coast during different phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation from 1980 to 2024. The tropical cyclone data used in this study are obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North Atlantic HURDAT2 database. Insurance data come from a variety of sources including the Insurance Information Institute, the National Centers for Environmental Information, and National Weather Service Tropical Cyclone Reports. For this research, the coding language R is employed to create a generalized additive model to analyze the non-linear relationship between the listed hurricane characteristics and insured loss data. During the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, the non-linear impact of both landfall wind speed and storm surge on property insurance losses is significantly amplified. The results of this research are meant to highlight the importance of rising costs of property insurance on coastal residents in relation to recent intensification of hurricane impacts, as a higher cost of insurance threatens the economic stability of vulnerable coastal communities.

Awardee Name

Abigail Williams

Academic Major

International Studies

Project Mentor

Jill Trepanier

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