Nearly a year after Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority announced last month that power had finally been restored to all of the island’s residents who lost power as a result of the storm. As has been widely reported, the state-owned utility has struggled over the last year to recover from the storm, which decimated the island’s electrical grid and caused the largest blackout in U.S. history. Until very recently, many homes and businesses were still without power.

The unprecedented scope and duration of the disruption to Puerto Rico’s infrastructure as a result of Hurricane Maria, and the threat posed this week by Hurricane Florence barreling towards the East Coast, underscores the increasing risks of catastrophic business interruption losses faced by businesses operating on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The 2017 hurricane season (which also included Hurricane Irma in Florida and Tropical Storm Harvey in Texas) was one of the most destructive in history. Experts estimate the losses from weather-related disasters in 2017 collectively exceeded $344 billion. Some experts predict that, due to the effects of climate change, the frequency and intensity of hurricanes like those seen in 2017 are the “new normal.”