Method for Assessing Storm Damage to Beach Houses

Methods and procedures for the assignment of the pro rata share of damages caused by rising water and high winds arising from natural weather phenomena were virtually non-existent following Hurricane Frederic in 1979. Damages to beach front structures were often assumed to be caused by high water. Frederic marked the first natural weather disaster to strike a heavily populated area since the formation of the National Flood Insurance Program in 1970. The damages caused by the winds and rising water from Hurricane Frederic, therefore, created an economic incentive to attempt to distinguish between wind and rising water contributions. This paper presents a method and outlines procedures followed in damage assessments following Hurricane Frederic in an effort to minimize the difficulties insurance carriers and adjustors may have following future similar phenomena. It may, additionally, serve to promote improved design and/or building codes where such phenomena are probable.