How to Evaluate Your Home’s Risk for Storm Damage in New York

Discover how serious storm damage can be and what homeowners can do to minimize its effects.

Key Takeaways:

New York faces constantly escalating storm damage.
Insurance underwriters use key factors to assess your home’s storm risk.
Strengthening your home and following storm-related updates could lower your premiums.

New York may not spring immediately to mind when thinking of storm damage hot spots. However, the state has been hit by some of nature’s worst weather, and it’s getting worse.

New York City alone has more than 600 miles of coastline. This topography and the infrastructure it carries are highly vulnerable to increasing storm events caused by climate change, making home insurance storm risk New York’s most pressing policy issue.

It’s more important than ever to take storm damage insurance seriously. This article will explain why and offer advice on protecting your home, yourself, and your loved ones.

The Rising Threat: Storms Are Becoming More Severe in New York

Everyone, whether they’re inland or coastal, should understand their storm risk profile. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has already predicted an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season for 2025, with tropical storms and storm surges also projected to increase in intensity.

Consider that just one inch of water in an average home could cause up to $25,000 in damages, and the threat becomes clear.

Storm surges and floods can bring much more than an inch, but homeowners don’t have to be sitting ducks. Here’s the checklist for your New York home insurance storm risk.

How to Evaluate Your Property’s Risk for Storm Damage

Insurance underwriters assess storm risk using some key factors. These may increase your storm damage insurance premiums or reduce coverage options:

1. Location

Knowing the elevation of your property and whether it’s currently in a flood zone is critical. Even if you’re not currently in a flood zone, this could change in the coming years. On the bright side, flood zone risk can also decrease.

Consult FEMA’s regularly updated Flood Map Service Center to stay current on how floods affect your area and to access other useful resources.

2. Roof condition

Home insurance storm risk New York isn’t just about ground level threats. Aging or damaged roof materials are highly vulnerable to heavy rains and high winds. Roofs can be partially or wholly torn off to become hazardous windblown debris, while the gaps they leave behind can allow storms to damage interiors.

3. Tree coverage

Proximity to trees, both large and small, is hazardous during a storm. Weak branches can quickly become projectiles. Whole trees may be uprooted in extreme weather, falling on properties and causing damage and potential injury.

4. Drainage

Poor drainage and grading significantly increases your home’s chance of suffering costly flood damage. Likewise, unsealed basements or crawl spaces are open doors for storm waters to enter your property.

5. Lack of storm shutters or reinforcements

Neglecting these can make doors and windows easy storm targets. Installing them could potentially save you money on your home insurance.

Watchdogs and disaster prevention groups have made home insurance storm risk one of New York’s hottest property topics, raising general awareness. However, not everyone is clear on where they’re covered and for what.

Home Insurance Storm Risk New York: What Home Insurance Actually Covers

Standard homeowners policies cover storm damage from snow, ice, wind, and falling objects but not flooding. This is where a separate flood insurance policy is necessary.

If you’d like to learn more, our comprehensive guide to flood insurance explains how speaking to an insurance company familiar with the National Flood Insurance Program or more specialized, private flood policies can help you select the right plan.

Alternatively, you can get a personalized flood insurance quote directly from FEMA in 10 minutes or less. You may also discover that you have some other coverage against the wider effects of storms by understanding how your life insurance policy can lessen the impact of natural disasters.

As with any form of coverage, reviewing your New York home insurance storm risk policy sooner rather than later is best, especially since New York’s storm season began on June 1.

How to Strengthen Your Home and Lower Your Risk

Being proactive has an upfront cost for installation and the expenses of any ongoing maintenance, but the potential savings can offset these outlays many times over:

Fit roof upgrades like impact-resistant materials, tie-downs, or construction adhesive.
Apply storm sealants to increase water resistance and structural flexibility.
Install sump pumps to control excess water.
Add storm shutters to windows and doors.
Trim tree limbs regularly.
Upgrade to reinforced garage doors.
Use water barriers.

Defending your property from natural disasters may lead to premium discounts on storm damage insurance. Securing these potential savings relies on supplying your provider with the right documentation. An insurance representative may also have to assess your property in person.

New York Home Insurance Storm Risk: Choosing the Right Coverage

Some may feel that storm damage insurance isn’t necessary because they have homeowners coverage. Before deciding, it’s important to understand how homeowners policies set the difference between replacement cost value (RCV) and actual cash value (ACV).

RCV disregards depreciation and pays out to replace lost items with new ones at the current market prices. ACV deducts depreciation from an item’s value and only pays what the item is worth in its current condition at present market rates.

Named storm deductibles (called hurricane deductibles) are typically a portion of the home’s value. The Insurance Information Institute details that wind damage and windstorm and wind/hail deductibles can vary between 1% and 5% of a home’s insured value.

Deductibles for storm damage are separate from home insurance deductibles and can be paid per event, per storm season, or per calendar year, depending on your plan. Per season could be considered best of the three; you’ll only pay your storm deductible once per season even if your property is hit multiple times.

Calculating the potential cost of home insurance storm risk New York as it applies to you significantly depends on knowing two things:

Whether you’ll receive RCV or ACV on damaged items
Which storm deductible payment schedule you’re signed up for

Combining that knowledge with staying current on weather projections in your area can signal how much storm damage insurance you could end up paying out of pocket.

Again, the right time to consider flood insurance or supplemental storm riders is always before you need them. Since storm season is already underway, why not get started today?

How NICRIS Can Help

NICRIS works to evaluate home insurance storm risk New York based on your unique circumstances. We offer free risk assessments and policy reviews and always encourage homeowners to revisit their policy annually as risks evolve.