Flood Past 2011 year: As 2011 winds down, there were over 54,129 flood losses in the month of August 2011, in which Hurricane Irene accounted for over 40,634 of these losses. In September 2011, there were over 14,801 flood losses in which Tropical Storm Lee accounted for over 8,961 of these losses.
Flood Present 2012: Due to the mild winter in the Northwest and limited spring rainfall in the Northeast and Midwest, this has been a slow year so far. Last year at this time I was standing in the Missouri River as it had overflowed its banks.
Future: Statistically, Hurricane Katrina, Ike and Irene, in that order, are the largest claim events on record and such have occurred over the last 7 years of the program that was started in 1968. As we move forward, any one event can produce enough flooding to become the next “big event” statistically.
So, we learn from the past to implement new work flow processes in the present and prepare for the future as we look to the 2012 Hurricane Season.