The AP has released a list of the Top 10 Catastrophe, as put together by the Insurance Services Office Inc. of Jersey City, N.J. Here it is:
1. Terrorist attack (New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania), September 2001 — $20.7 billion.
2. Hurricane Andrew, August 1992 — $19.9 billion.
3. Northridge, Calif., earthquake, January 1994 — $15.2 billion.
4. Hurricane Hugo, September 1989 — $6.1 billion.
5. Hurricane Georges, September 1998 — $3.3 billion.
6. Midwest, South tornadoes, May 2003 — $3.1 billion.
7. Tropical Storm Allison, July 2001 — $2.5 billion.
7. Hurricane Opal, October 1995 — $2.5 billion.
9. Midwest, South tornadoes, April 2001 — $2.2 billion.
9. Northeast winter storm, March 1993 — $2.2 billion.
This is adjusted to 2002 dollars. HOWEVER, it’s wrong. Hurricane Floyd caused $4.5 billion, and Hurricane Fran caused $3.2 billion. I know. I lived through them. Also, Opal caused $3 billion. These are unadjusted figures. Adjusted, they go up, though this article from InfoPleae doesn’t specify for what year. Furthermore, some articles place Allison at a much lower cost, and some higher.
So what is the big deal? It shows a laziness in the media. Did the AP research this short article?
