Move over Snowmageddon and make way for the “bomb cyclone” which hit the East Coast January 4, 2018.  While the official name of this winter storm is “Grayson”, the media focused on the phenomenon (bombogenesis) that increased Grayson’s wrath and fury, converting it from a run-of-the-mill Nor’easter into a “bomb cyclone.” 

Source: https://videoimages.vice.com/articles/5a4d145578e6000358f84c34/lede/1515002058515-Screen-Shot-2018-01-03-at-125009-PM.jpeg?crop=1xw:0.87890625xh;center,center&resize=0:*

What the heck is a “bomb cyclone”? Many born-and-bred New Englanders have commented over the last few days that even they have not heard of this term. A “bomb cyclone” refers to a phenomenon that occurred as this weather event unfolded. The official term is “explosive cyclogenesis,” or “bombogenesis.” The “bombing” occurs when a low-pressure system’s central pressure falls below a certain threshold (measured in millibars) in 24 hours or less.[1] A low pressure system occurs where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is lower than the surrounding land area. The bomb part comes into play because the pressure (the force exerted by the air’s weight) drops significantly – the lower the pressure drops within a cyclone, the more intense a storm it creates.

Source: https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/676c67cb8a910dba7d2e7310ff1cedf68577fa77/c=2-0-703-527&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2018/01/03/Wilmington/Wilmington/636505642327411764-bomb-cyclone.png

A sharp fall in atmospheric pressure in less than a day—while not exactly rare—is considered, in meteorological terms, explosive.

What impact will the bomb cyclone have on the insurance industry? We’re only just beginning to survey the damage, but, its impact may comparable to that of prior winter storms that wreaked havoc on the Northeast states such as Blizzard Juno, which paralyzed much of the Eastern Corridor in January 2015.

Many of the coverage issues arising out of the “bomb cyclone” will likely be the old standbys such as:

• Direct Physical Damage During the Policy Period
• Roof Collapses Under Weight of Snow and Ice
• Business Interruption and Extra Expense
• Sue and Labor/Preservation of Property & Mitigation of Loss
• Debris Removal

Some of the main causes of loss may relate to flooding, ice dams, and burst pipes. Incredibly, tide levels along the Massachusetts coast including Boston Harbor neared an all-time record set during the infamous “Blizzard of ‘78”, sending water pouring over sea walls and surging into residential neighborhoods. Cars floated down streets and water rushed into houses and buildings alike.

Due to the frigid temperatures across the Northeast for the past two weeks and high winds from Grayson, one issue that may be unique to this storm is damage arising from ice chunks crashing into coastal homes, docks, and boats. Specifically, the frozen ocean has produced large amounts of ice which was pushed to shore by the winds in bomb cyclone. Query whether there would be coverage for such damage. As a threshold matter, one could argue that such damage was “direct physical loss of or damage to” covered property. Nonetheless, exclusions for flood and ice may bar coverage.

As the Gap Band so eloquently sang in the 1980s, Grayson “[y]ou were my thrills, you were my pills. You dropped a bomb on me.”

See video here.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lkdqoLt44