20-Story Towers Rise in Hurricane-Prone Quintana Roo

Cancún, Mexico — Twenty years after the impact of Hurricane Wilma, condominium towers of 20 stories have multiplied in Cancún and other cities in the state, areas with a high risk of cyclone impact where the costs of hurricane insurance have risen considerably.

In this year alone, there are more than one thousand vertical projects being marketed or under construction in the northern zone of the state, according to the most updated data from the Quintana Roo Real Estate Development Association (ADIQ), provided by its president, Miguel Ángel Lemus Mateos.

However, for the ADIQ president, the risk of constructing increasingly taller buildings is compensated for by the high quality standards in the construction of the properties.

"The steel that is used, the cement, the blocks, the waterproofing, the glass, and the window frames, they are all hurricane-proof now, of course, to a certain level; in short, I believe that the developments built in the last decade meet hurricane resistance specifications," he explained.

Brenda Hernández Ariste, spokesperson for the Mexican Association of Insurance and Bonding Agents in Quintana Roo, reported that the cost of an insurance policy in hurricane zones to insure real estate rises at a rate of 2 to 7% per thousand, or for every thousand pesos of the insured amount.

Furthermore, the cost of the policy is rated based on the property's proximity to the coastline and the height of the building. This means that an apartment on the coastline will have a much higher policy cost than one located one or two kilometers from the sea.

The Amasfac spokesperson added that, despite everything, the cost is not high if one considers that people's patrimony is being insured. However, the acquisition of this type of protection remains deficient, especially for homes, vehicles, and other types of assets that are also at risk during a cyclonic event, despite Quintana Roo being one of the states with the highest penetration of hurricane policies.

That is, despite much talk of the hurricane culture that Wilma left among Quintana Roo residents, not only has the number of assets insured against these phenomena not grown, but 20-story structures—the most vulnerable to cyclonic winds—are multiplying exponentially.

According to the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS), it is one of the most costly disasters in Mexico, with a cost of 2,392 million dollars for insurance companies.