Storm & Security

IN/BOX 6 STORM & SECURITY PROTECTION / FORECAST 2015 SEI Acquires Rolltech Hurricane Shutters SEI Mfg. Inc., Pensacola, FL, has acquired the assets of Rolltech Hurricane Shutters, also of Pensacola. The acquisi- tion adds Rolltech's staff and clients to SEI. SEI Mfg. Inc. was formed in December 2014 when Tony Baughn and Tim Baughn, the founding members of South- ern Extrusion, Pensacola, entered into a business relationship with John Roche. The company immediately acquired the assets of Southern Extrusion, Inc. and Stormtech Shutters of NW FL, Inc. SEI intends to grow its shutter and aluminum fabrication business through expansion and acquisitions, according to a company statement. El Niño Here, Little Effect on Climate Expected El Niño has arrived, forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center announced in March, but its expected to have little influence on this summer's climate—including the Atlantic Basin hurricane season. In its updated monthly outlook, forecasters issued an El Niño Advisory to declare the arrival of the ocean-atmospheric phenomenon marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean near the equator. Due to the weak strength of the El Niño, widespread or significant global weather pattern impacts are not anticipat- ed. However, certain impacts often associated with El Niño may appear this spring in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, such as wetter-than-normal conditions along the U.S. Gulf Coast, the advisory stated. Forecasters say it is likely (50 to 60 percent chance) that El Niño conditions will continue through the summer. U.S. Risk Exposure Rises to $90 trillion The vulnerability to hurricanes and other coastal hazards in the United States continues to rise because of increasing property values and concentrations of property values along the coast, according to Karen Clark & Co. (KCC), Boston, MA. Of the $90 trillion in total U.S. property exposure, more than $16 trillion is in the first tier of Gulf and Atlantic coastal counties, an increase from $14.5 trillion in 2012, it states in a report, "Increasing Concentrations of Property Values and Catastrophe Risk in the U.S.", released in April. For hurricanes, the most likely regions for a100-year event, such as a Category 5 hurricane with peak winds of 165 mph at landfall, are Texas, the Gulf coast and South Florida. Specifically in Florida, a 100-year hurricane making a direct hit on downtown Miami would cause more than $250 billion in insured losses today, the report states. If the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 occurred this year, it adds, the insured losses would be around $125 billion. "That hurricane was a Category 4 storm—a Category 5 hurricane would likely cause twice the losses," it states. A 100-year hurricane event in the Northeast would be similar to the 1938 Great New England Hurricane that made landfall near Westhampton, NY, on Long Island. That storm today would cause insured losses of about $40 billion. If the storm track moved to the west so that landfall was over western Long Island, it would cause more than $100 billion in insured losses, the report states. This image shows the average sea surface temperature for February 2015 as measured by NOAA satellites. The large area of red (warmer than average) can be seen extending through the equatorial Pacific. Courtesy of NOAA.

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