As Hurricane Milton threatens the US, Helene could cost property owners more than $47 billion
By Matt Egan, CNN
New York (CNN) — Even as Florida braces for another major hurricane, new estimates reveal Hurricane Helene caused up to $47.5 billion in losses for property owners.
Helene, a deadly Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on September 26, caused “widespread and devastating” flooding across Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, according to data analytics firm CoreLogic.
And yet many residents in Helene’s path did not have flood insurance. CoreLogic estimates Helene caused between $20 billion and $30 billion of uninsured flood losses.
That dwarfs the firm’s estimate of between $10.5 billion and $17.5 billion worth of insured wind and flood losses.
“A significant portion of the losses from this hurricane are likely to go uninsured, leaving the individual property owner responsible for paying for repairs,” CoreLogic wrote in an update on Friday.
All told, CoreLogic calculates that Hurricane Helene caused between $30.5 billion and $47.5 billion in total wind and flood losses across 16 states. The firm said it does not plan to issue another update, unless new developments warrant it.
The latest cost figures come as Hurricane Milton barrels towards Florida, rapidly intensifying from a tropical storm to a dangerous Category 4 hurricane in the span of less than 20 hours.
Milton threatens to bring additional damage to the region, and further highlights the absence of flood insurance in areas that continue to face immense flooding threats.
Helene’s heavy rain caused massive devastation, leaving entire communities in western North Carolina in ruins. The death toll from Helene has climbed to at least 232 people across six states, making it the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the US mainland in the past 50 years.
On Monday, Moody’s RMS Event Response estimated that Helene likely caused between $8 billion and $14 billion in private market insured losses.
The ratings and research firm said its “best estimate” of $11 billion represented insured losses associated with wind, storm surge and rain-induced flooding from the Mid-Atlantic storm that caused deaths and widespread damage in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.
Moody’s RMS Event Response also estimated that the National Flood Insurance Program could see losses upward of $2 billion.
In Florida, the hurricane caused historic tidal levels in the Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg areas, both of which are home to many hotels and condos.
Even as storms have become turbo-charged by record-warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, standard homeowners’ insurance policies typically don’t protect against flooding.
To insure against flooding, homeowners often have to purchase that protection separately, typically from the National Flood Insurance Program, which is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Homeowners are not required to get flood insurance unless they have a federally backed mortgage and the home is located within a 100-year flood zone, known as the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).
“Lenders do not require homes without a mortgage or those outside the SFHA to have flood insurance,” CoreLogic said.
The vast majority of the damage from Hurricane Helene was from flooding, with wind causing just $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion of losses, according to CoreLogic. Most of the Florida wind losses were in Perry, a small town with just 7,000 people.
– CNN’s Alicia Wallace contributed to this report
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