Helene, Milton losses expected to surpass "truly historic" $50 billion each

Source: CBS News/AP

Updated on: October 17, 2024 / 7:58 AM EDT


Monstrous hurricanes Helene and Milton caused so much complex havoc that damages are still being added up, but government and private experts say they will likely join the infamous ranks of Katrina, Sandy and Harvey as super costly $50-billion-plus killers. Making that even more painful is that most of the damage - 95% or more in Helene's case - was not insured, putting victims in a deeper financial hole.

Storm deaths have been dropping over time, although Helene was an exception. But even adjusted for inflation, damages from intense storms are skyrocketing because people are building in harm's way, rebuilding costs are rising faster than inflation and human-caused climate change are making storms stronger and wetter, experts in different fields 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," said John Dickson, president of Aon Edge Insurance Agency, which specializes in flood coverage. "The weather seems to be, in many cases, moving faster than we as a society are able to keep pace with it."

In the last 45 years, and adjusted for inflation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has counted 396 weather disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damage. Sixty-three of those were hurricanes or tropical storms.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/helene-milton-losses-50-billion-each-hurricanes-rare/