Analysts say the US could see $34 billion in damage from Hurricane Helene slamming into Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas
Melissa Sue Gerrits / Getty Images
- Hurricane Helene has brought with it a hefty price tag.
- Moody's Analytics projected that damage from the disaster could total $34 billion.
- The hurricane cut power for millions of homes and left at least 166 dead across southeast states.
Hurricane Helene, which ravaged the southeast US and left at least 166 dead, is estimated to have cost the country up to $34 billion, according to analysts.
In a Monday report, Moody's Analytics projected the damage from the hurricane to be between $20 billion and $34 billion.
It also estimated property damage ranging from $15 billion to $26 billion.
"Although climate hazards alone tend not to compel residents to move out of an area, further increases in insurance premiums might," Adam Kamins, a senior director of economic research at Moody's Analytics, wrote in the report.
"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," Kamins added.
Weather forecaster AccuWeather projected a much larger number, as high as $160 billion, in damage from the storm.
The hurricane made landfall in Florida on Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane before becoming less intense as it moved through Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Parts of the southeast, including North Carolina, had already been dealing with heavy rain before Helene arrived.
In total, the storms dumped 40 trillion gallons of water — the equivalent of Lake Tahoe — on the region in over a week, The Associated Press reported.
The outlet reported on Wednesday that the hurricane had killed at least 166 people. As of early Wednesday, the storm had cut power for 1.2 million homes and businesses across Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, per The AP.
Cellular services and running water were also cut for many residents of these states.
Satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration captured the hurricane's path of wreckage across Florida's coast, and photos show demolished houses, uprooted trees, and submerged vehicles.
Compounding the issues Helene and its aftermath have created for the US is the dockworker strike that kicked off on October 1. Some 45,000 dockworkers are on strike, affecting ports on the East and Gulf coasts. Together, the storm damage and the strike are set to create a series of supply-chain issues across the country.