Helene, Milton likely to cause damages exceeding $50 billion each

KALISPELL, Montana: Hurricanes Helene and Milton are expected to cause damages exceeding US$50 billion each, joining the ranks of the costliest storms in U.S. history, such as Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey, according to government and private experts.

The financial toll continues to rise, and experts warn that most of the damage-especially in Helene's case-is uninsured, deepening the financial burden on victims.

While storm-related deaths have declined over the years, storm intensity and costs have surged. Rising rebuilding costs, expanding development in vulnerable areas, and the impacts of climate change are making storms more destructive.

"Today's storms and today's events are simply vastly different from yesterday's events. One of the things that we're seeing is that 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, specializing 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."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has recorded 396 weather disasters in the past 45 years, each causing at least $1 billion in damages. Sixty-three of these were hurricanes or tropical storms. Hurricanes surpassing $50 billion in damages are considered "truly historic events," according to NOAA economist Adam Smith, who believes both Helene and Milton will likely join this list.

Calculating the damages from these storms is a complex and lengthy process, especially when storms like Helene and Milton cause damage over a wide geographic area. Helene, in particular, caused extensive flooding in areas not accustomed to such events, complicating the damage estimates.

There are three categories of storm damage: insured, uninsured, and total economic cost. Homeowners' insurance typically covers wind damage but not flooding, which requires separate flood insurance. Helene primarily caused flood damage, and experts estimate that only 5% of victims had adequate insurance coverage. Aon's Dickson suggested Helene's total damage could range between $100 billion and $200 billion, with only $10 billion covered by insurance.

Milton caused more wind damage, leading to insured losses estimated between $50 billion and $60 billion. Risk modeling firm Karen Clark and Company reported insured losses of $36 billion for Milton and $6.4 billion for Helene.

"The economic losses are going up because we're putting more infrastructure and housing in harm's way," said University of South Carolina's Susan Cutter, co-director of the Hazards Vulnerability and Resilience Institute, who added that climate change also plays a role. "Human losses and deaths are going down because people are being a little bit more vigilant about paying attention to preparedness and getting out of harm's way."

Cutter and others also point to climate change as a factor making hurricanes wetter and more severe, with storms like Helene becoming more frequent.

The growing frequency and severity of storms have prompted discussions about managed retreat-moving people and infrastructure away from high-risk areas.

Karen Clark, founder of the disaster modeling firm, argued that flood insurance isn't enough to address the issue. "This is really a societal issue and a political question," Clark said. "How do we want to deal with this?"

Many homeowners in risky areas avoid purchasing flood insurance due to high costs, leaving taxpayers with a financial burden when federal aid is used to rebuild in dangerous zones.