CNBNews

AccuWeather Global Weather Center - August 30, 2023 - AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from Hurricane Idalia in the southeastern United States is $18-20 billion.    

AccuWeather issued the first forecast of the storm more than 24 hours before any other source, and also indicated that Idalia would become a major hurricane ahead of any other source. The Category 3 hurricane made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph. It brought record and destructive storm surge to limited parts of the Gulf Coast of Florida, with coastal flooding and surge levels where the storm moved inland rivaling those of Hurricane Ian last year in Fort Myers. While the storm surge levels were comparable in height to Ian, the fact that the Big Bend area of the state area is far less populated than the area devastated by Ian last year made a vast difference in total damages. To contrast Hurricane Idalia with Ian, there were approximately 1 million people within 30 miles of landfall for Ian, while there are about 38,000 people within that distance for Idalia. This variance in population, and related difference in structures and infrastructure and home values, is the difference between the $180-20 billion estimate for Ian versus the $18-20 billion for Idalia.

AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter shared, “Assessing the damage from Idalia, we see tremendous flooding in the Big Bend region along with many trees and power lines down. It will take weeks for some parts of Florida to get power back after this devastating storm.” Porter also shared concern that, “With the insurance industry in Florida still reeling from major storms like Ian in recent years and some companies even pulling out from offering insurance in the state, premiums are becoming unaffordable for many Floridians and this latest damage from Idalia might exacerbate the problem.” The impact from Idalia was also felt across the U.S., he added, “As hundreds of flights were cancelled this week in the Southeast, that had a domino effect on flight cancellations and delays throughout the nation.”

AccuWeather’s damage estimate incorporates independent methods to evaluate direct and indirect impacts of the storm, includes both insured and uninsured losses, and is based on a variety of sources, statistics, and unique techniques AccuWeather uses to estimate the damage, to property, job and wage losses, crops, infrastructure damage, interruption of the supply chain, auxiliary business losses and flight delays or cancellations. The estimate also accounts for the costs of evacuations, relocations, emergency management, and the government expenses for cleanup operations. It also includes the long-term effect on business logistics, transportation, tourism as well as the tail health effects and the medical and other expenses of yet unreported deaths and injuries.

To put this event into context, as noted above, Hurricane Ian last year, impacting a much more densely populated area, brought total damage and economic loss of $180-210 billion. Hurricane Michael in 2018 devastated parts of the Panhandle area of Florida, again in a slightly more populated area than Idalia, with a total damage and economic loss of about $30 billion. AccuWeather estimated the damage of the wildfires in Hawaii was $14-16 billion. The parade of storms into the southwest U.S. in December 2022-January 2023 had a total damage and economic loss estimate of $31-33 billion, according to AccuWeather. The wildfire season in the western United States in 2101 was $70-90 billion and in 2020 was $130-150 billion. The flooding in the Northeastern United States in July was $3-5 billion. Some other recent AccuWeather economic impact estimates included $10-12 billion for the southern Ice Storm in February 2023, Hurricane Nicole in November 2022 brought $5-7 billion total damage and economic loss, while Hurricane Ian resulted in $180-210B in September 2022. 

For more information on this event, see the AccuWeather.com updates here: https://www.accuweather.com/en/hurricane/live-news/live-hurricane-idalia-turns-deadly-as-it-ransacks-the-southeast/1574324

AccuWeather Ready Hurricane preparedness checklist:https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweather-ready-hurricane-preparedness-checklist/11898 

There is no better place to track the storm and its impacts than AccuWeather.com, the free AccuWeather mobile apps, the AccuWeather TV Network or AccuWeather partner outlets.

About AccuWeather, Inc. and AccuWeather.com - AccuWeather, recognized and documented as the most accurate source of weather forecasts and warnings in the world has saved tens of thousands of lives, prevented hundreds of thousands of injuries and tens of billions of dollars in property damage. With global headquarters in State College, PA and other offices around the world, AccuWeather serves more than 1.5 billion people daily to help them plan their lives and get more out of their day through radio, television, newspapers, smart phones, tablets, connected TVs, the AccuWeather Network and AccuWeather.com. Additionally, AccuWeather produces and distributes news, weather content, and video for more than 180,000 third-party websites.