Harvey estimated to be among costliest US storms

Hurricane Harvey has wreaked havoc in the state of Texas and the financial damages have just begun to emerge. According to a data modeling which forecasts the damage caused by natural disasters, damage from Hurricane Harvey could put it among the top five most costly US storms ever.

The failing dams and levees are really driving up the losses in the state. In just one night the estimates for total economic costs and damage shot up to $42 billion from $30 billion because flooding began to spread to Louisiana and flood control measures became overwhelmed.

Chuck Watson, founder of the disaster modeling firm Enki Research, is doing his research on the economic impact of Harvey and he says that the outlook for Texas is bleak.

“If Harvey were your normal hurricane it would be probably a $4 billion event,” Watson told AFP. “That would be tragic for the people affected, but for the effect on the macroeconomy, we wouldn’t be talking about it at all.”

Research shows that natural disasters can result in more concentrated poverty in former disaster areas since the rich ultimately leave the area leaving the poor to survive in it.

Despite the staggering numbers, Harvey is still nowhere as costly as 2005’s Hurricane Katrina which took a $118 billion bite out of the economy.

Now that the economic impact has started to emerge, several celebrities and noted business people have come forward with generous amounts of aid for the rebuilding of the torn state.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Aug 30 2017. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.