Tropical Weather & Hurricane Season

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The Southeast Is Reeling in the Wake of Hurricane Helene
by Julianne McShane
September 29, 2024

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across the Southeast over the past several days, leaving more than 60 people dead and providing a chilling example of how climate change is worsening storms.

Since the hurricane made landfall in northern Florida on Thursday, it killed at least 64 people, including 1-month-old twins and their 27-year-old mother in Georgia, and a couple in their 70s and a 6-year-old relative who drowned in North Carolina, the Associated Press reported Sunday. North Carolina was particularly hard hit, with western parts of the state receiving more than two feet of rainfall, leading to the closure of about 300 roads, according to federal authorities.

The storm also brought more than a foot of rain to parts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, as well as massive power outages, including, at one point, in 40 percent of South Carolina, the AP reports. As of Sunday afternoon, there were more than 2.2 million power outages across the Southeast, with more than 870,000 in South Carolina and more than 600,000 in Georgia, according to PowerOutage.us.

In a statement Saturday, President Joe Biden said he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation” that Helene wrought, adding, “As we turn toward recovery efforts, we will make certain that no resource is spared to ensure that families, businesses, schools, hospitals, and entire communities can quickly begin their road to rebuilding.”

Conclusion:

On CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell blamed climate change for the storm’s rapid intensification—and warned that the devastation was a harbinger of what’s to come in our increasingly warming planet. “In the past, when we would look at damage from hurricanes, it was primarily wind damage, with some water damage, but now we’re seeing so much more water damage, and I think that is a result of the warm waters, which is a result of climate change,” Criswell said.

Read more here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2 ... wannanao/

Power outages as of September 30, 2024:

Region Outages
South East 1,890,483
Mid-Atlantic 135,218
South 39,090
Great Lakes 38,701
Pacific 13,796
Mountain 2,461
New England 2,419
MidWest 1,192
Territories 57
Total Out: 2,123,417

Source: https://poweroutage.us/area/regions (See also map at this link).

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Insurance Industry Experts Indicate Hurricane Helene Damages Could Hit $35 Billion
by Andrew Freedman
October 1, 2024

Introduction:

(Axios) Hurricane Helene likely caused damage totaling at least in the tens of billions of dollars, according to insurance industry estimates.
Why it matters: The economic hit from the storm, while not yet fully known, could have ripple effects beyond the hardest-hit areas.

• The toll, with well over 100 killed in six states, is becoming clearer as meteorologists question if their messaging prior to the storm could have been clearer.

Zoom in: Steve Bowen, chief science officer at Gallagher Re, a reinsurance company, told Axios the damage may rise to about $35 billion in total economic losses.

• "A minimum starting baseline of $20 billion is a reasonable expectation from Helene's winds and water-related impacts," Bowen said.

• According to him, many, if not most, homeowners in affected areas in the Carolinas and Tennessee lack federal flood insurance. That means a large gap between total economic cost from the storm, and what will be covered by insurance.

• He predicts that the total insured losses from Florida to Virginia and points to the west will run into the mid-to-high single digit billions, at a minimum.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2024/10/01/hurri ... -billion



According to Moody's Analytics Hurricane Helene Economic Price Tag Could Be $34 Billion
By Kit Norton

(Investors Business Daily) Hurricane Helene ripped across the Southeast U.S. in recent days leaving a wake of damage and at least 130 dead as of Tuesday. Moody's Analytics on Monday projected the price tag of Hurricane Helene in the $20 billion to $34 billion range, with property damage ranging from $15 billion to $26 billion. However, as of Tuesday, the stock market reaction appears to be mostly muted.

Moody's estimated the storm would cause a $5 billion-$8 billion output reduction cost. It added that it remains too early to project insured losses. However, CNBC estimates that just 1% of homes damaged by Hurricane Helene had flood insurance

"Although climate hazards alone tend not to compel residents to move out of an area, further increases in insurance premiums might. Significant changes in the next year or two are improbable, but the corrosive impact on housing affordability in the Sunshine State looks like an ever-growing risk," Adam Kamins, senior director of economic research at Moody's Analytics, wrote in the report.

Read more here: https://www.investors.com/news/hurrica ... et-impact/

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