Hurricanes Helene and Milton wreaked so much havoc in their wake that the damages are estimated to cost more than $100 billion.
The price tag puts the hurricane in infamous company with Katrina, Sandy and Harvey as the most costly storms.
Milton is the less severe regarding damages left behind, as 95% of Helene’s damage was not insured.
Helene and Milton, a climate warning
Storms that cause this much damage as climate change worsens could become the norm. Hurricanes like Helene and Milton are getting bigger and bigger as the ocean’s temperature rises.
John Dickson, president of Aon Edge Insurance Agency, said, “Today’s storms, today’s events are simply vastly different from yesterday’s events. One of the things that we’re seeing is the energy content that these systems can retain is significantly greater than it used to be. The weather seems to be, in many cases, moving faster than we as a society are able to keep pace with it.”
Only eight hurricanes have cost the U.S. more than Helene and Milton. Katrina was the most expensive storm in U.S. history, causing about $200 billion in damages. Harvey and Ian caused about $160 and $110 billion, respectively.
The two recent storms are expected to rank around where Andrew ranked individually. However, they hit the U.S. two weeks apart, bringing their combined cost closer to Ian’s at about $100 billion.
Usually, insurers have to pay the total damages to the victims. However, since most of Hurricane Helene’s damage was uninsured, the cost for insurance companies for Helene will be about $8 to $14 billion, according to BNN Bloomberg.
While monetary losses are going up due to the more dangerous climate change-affected storms, the loss of human life is going down significantly compared to hurricanes in the past. Helene is an exception, with more than 200 deaths in its aftermath, but Milton was relatively low in comparison.
“The economic losses are going up because we’re putting more infrastructure and housing in harm’s way,” said Susan Cutter, co-director of the Hazards Vulnerability and Resilience Institute. “Human losses and deaths are going down because people are being a little bit more vigilant about paying attention to preparedness and getting out of harm’s way.”
The damage has been primarily caused by flooding. Climate studies show that hurricanes are presenting with increased rainfall. According to the AP, a cloud can carry four percent more water for every degree of Fahrenheit.
Karen Clark, the founder of Karen Clark and Company, a disaster modeling firm, said, “There is scientific agreement that floods and flooding from these hurricanes is becoming more frequent and more severe. So it is likely that we’re going to be seeing a higher frequency of storms like Helene in the future. It’s not really an insurance issue because it’s not privately insured. This is really a societal issue and political question. How do we want to deal with this?”
