Insurance data for Hurricane Beryl

An insurance analysis of the property vulnerabilities and subsequent damage detected in the greater Houston area and nearby coastal counties.

Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast in the early morning hours of July 8, 2024, bringing with it high wind damage, extensive power outages, and flood waters across coastal counties and the greater city of Houston area.

Immediately following the event, Nearmap deployed its aircraft to capture the damage, process the obtained images, and publish insights of the damage into ImpactResponse System.

An eye from the sky: A before and after view

ImpactResponse imagery by Nearmap enabled governments to keep watch of Hurricane Beryl’s impact before, during, and after landfall.

Fri Jun 07 2024

Mon Jul 08 2024

1. Track the event

2. Identify vulnerabilities

3. Predict damage

4. Quantify impact

5. Alert insureds

6. Initiate claims

Tracking the event

The Nearmap ImpactResponse team monitors the weather throughout the disaster season. Once an event is identified, the ImpactResponse system continuously pulls the latest information and hurricane tracks from commercial and public providers like NOAA, providing insurers with real-time data to preemptively identify impacted properties and prioritize resources efficiently.

Hurricane Beryl timeline

July 1

Nearmap starts tracking Hurricane Beryl, a Category 5 Hurricane formed in the Eastern Caribbean, and adds tracks from NOAA.

July 5

Beryl enters the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm.

July 8

Beryl makes landfall near Matagorda, Texas as a Category 1 storm. Once cloud cover dissipates, Nearmap planes begin capturing aerial imagery of the affected areas and publishing the data.

Zeroing in on ground truth

Directly after Hurricane Beryl, our flight operations team was in the air capturing the aftermath of the storm in high resolution. The imagery was captured, processed, and published within 36 hours of the storm’s landfall.

Nearmap coverage of Hurricane Beryl by the numbers

1.71

mil

building images captured

166

buildings scored with Hurricane Vulnerability Score

Identifying vulnerabilities & predicting damage

Prior to Hurricane Beryl making landfall, insurers were able to identify the number of potentially impacted properties and the predicted losses in their portfolio using the Nearmap Hurricane Vulnerability Score within the ImpactResponse system.

Based on historical claims datasets and computer vision detections like overhangs and roof condition, Hurricane Vulnerability Score is a strong indicator of claims in high-hazard regions such as the Texas Gulf Coast.

Property vulnerability

Our Hurricane Vulnerability Score takes into account property attributes like tree overhang, roof shape, and roof condition. All relevant detections are combined into this score, which is trained on historical claims and damage. Graded from 1 (highly vulnerable) to 5 (least vulnerable), this score is a reliable indicator of a property’s hurricane vulnerability.

Highly vulnerable properties are 3.9 times more likely to be impacted than properties identified as the least vulnerable.*

Quantifying impact

Using our rapidly available ImpactResponse imagery and advanced computer vision models, carriers had fast access to damage classifications to assess losses accurately at the property level. This data enabled insurers to prioritize claims and adjuster resources, prepare reserves, and manage financial risk directly after Hurricane Beryl made landfall.

Damage classifications

Nearmap five-tier property damage, inspired by FEMA, enabled insurers to identify affected properties quickly and prioritize adjuster resources based on urgency directly following Beryl.

As an example, we automated the classification of
damage for the aforementioned carrier.

“Information obtained through the imagery and analytics enables us to reach out to customers proactively and get them money in their bank accounts before they even know they’ve lost their home.”

Tier 1 U.S. Insurer

County	No damage	Affected	Minor damage	Major damage	Destroyed	All
Brazoria	80,165	4,312	636	1,243	75	86,431
Fort Bend	288,764	10,463	924	1,426	54	301,631
Galveston	28,343	1,512	234	173	10	30,272
Harris	996,075	68,347	10,420	11,309	296	108,644
Matagorda	4,213	255	198	327	45	5,038
Montgomery	164,425	3,767	524	892	48	169,656
Victoria	28,904	361	58	161	9	29,493
Waller	4,038	45	5	12	2	4,102
Total	1,594,927	89,062	12,999	15,543	539	1,713,070

Damage detection

In addition to understanding the classifications of damage, carriers had access to the ImpactResponse system to gain a robust understanding of property damage. The Nearmap Damage Detections AI data pinpointed things like structurally damaged roofs, exposed decks, piles of junk and debris, and tarps.

With this insight, insurers can:

Prioritize policies with the most severe damage.
Provide superior customer service to policyholders before FNOL to jumpstart the claim process.
Process claims faster and with a higher degree of accuracy.
Determine repair and replacement costs and understand portfolio losses while actively mitigating fraud risk.

Predict. Prepare. Mobilize.

Nearmap ImpactResponse system allows insurers to coordinate CAT response efforts

Track ongoing events and identify vulnerable properties to strategically allocate resources.

More accurately predict exposure to anticipate claims and prepare reserves.

Proactively alert policyholders of CAT risk before landfall.

Jumpstart the claims process immediately following the impact prior to first notice of loss (FNOL).

Get ready now

Get a clear view of damage through post-catastrophe imagery to enhance CAT response capabilities and ensure support to policyholders through the storms ahead.

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