In addition to property damages, the ability to make loan payments can become compromised following a hurricane. Overall home mortgage delinquency rates (30 or more days past due, including those in foreclosure) in the Beaumont, Texas (9.3%) and Lake Charles, Louisiana (9.5%) metropolitan areas were already above the national rate (7.3%) based on the May 2020 CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights report. CoreLogic data has shown natural disasters cause a spike in mortgage delinquencies, which suggests Hurricane Laura will add to the economic hardship families are already experiencing during the pandemic.

As Hurricane Laura approached the coast, the storm’s center struck a more sparsely populated area of the Louisiana and Texas coast. “There is never a good place for a hurricane to make landfall. But this was the best possible outcome because it spared the major population centers of Houston and New Orleans," said Curtis McDonald, meteorologist and senior product manager of CoreLogic.