ESG & Investing
The Ghost of Hurricane Katrina Haunts Catastrophe Modelers
Catastrophe modeling has improved in the last 20 years, but experts say risk assessments are still plagued by blind spots.
Fallen trees litter the area outside New Orleans, Louisiana, where houses were submerged to the roof by floodwaters in August 2005.
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
When Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans in August 2005, causing greater insurance losses than any other natural disaster in history, it became clear that a lot of the city’s flood protection engineering — walls, pumps, levees — had failed.
Something else failed, too: Insurers’ catastrophe models.