Is Frances the most costly Cat 2 Storm in US History?

[jdray]

Taking into account the amount of damage all over the state of Florida and into GA, & SC/NC, will Frances be the costliest CAT 2 Hurricane on record?

Most parts of the state experienced high wind and heavy rains for 24+ hours.

Northeast Florida is still experiencing heavy rain and wind from her, almost 3 straight days of it. Still under flood watches and tornado watches till Tuesday. Feeder bands still moving through here. Had a tornado form over my house and a short distance away. (yes I heard the freight train sound) woke me up from a deep sleep.

South Central Florida took a direct hit, yet wind and rain damage is basically WPM/Miami north to Jacksonville, and Tampa to Tallahassee.

6 million people were without power. many others without phone service (thank god for cell phones, although our Cell Towers here must have some damage as well). Still over 150,000 homes and businesses in my area alone without power. 110,000 bellsouth customers are without service here just in NE Florida.

Flooding all over Florida, with many rivers expected to crest at above flood levels Tuesday and Wednesday.

Trees and power lines down everywhere. 300 year old oaks uprooted. many many limbs down everywhere.

This storm wasn't just a localized event. It was truly a state event. Ive been through tropical storms before, but nothing like Frances brought to our area, and for such a long period of time.

Thankfully I have power and water now. Only lost power for less than a full day. I feel sorry for people all over the state who had it worse.

[dennis1x1]

estimated to be 2-5 billion..not sure how that rates to other cat 2 storms....

researched a little....looks like adjusted for inflation agnes (cat 1) was more costly

[AussieMark]

here are some costly storms that were

Tropical storm
Category 1
Category 2

if they hit today estimated damage would be

1972-Agnes (Cat 1) $14.5 Billion

1955-Diane (Cat 1) $13.9 Billion

2001-Allison (TS) $5.4 Billion

1999-Floyd (Cat 2) $5.3 Billion

1964-Dora (Cat 2) $4.2 Billion

2003-Isabel (Cat 2) $3.4 Billion

[Tornado_Chaser2005]

Anyone else notice that list? Why is the strongest Storm with the least damage amount, and the weaker, like the Cat 1 over 15billion

[arlwx]

In my recollection, Agnes caused historic levels of flooding in the Mid-Atlantic ((and probably the Appalachians)) as it crossed from NW FL to the Chesapeake Bay and then out to Long Island. The Potomac River rose about 12 feet above flood stage in the DC area, causing major waterfront damage ((and washing out a bridge that lead to the MD side of Great Falls, which was not repaired for many years thereafter)). The official damage estimates at the time were around $3 billion, and even if that was a little high, with inflation since then...

[PTPatrick]

I know Georges was the most costly cat 2 without adjusting old storms to today. He weighed in 2.3 billion (but MUCH greater with the damage to the islands...I have heard estimated of 6 billion). Bob comes in next 1.5 billion.

[inotherwords]

Here's a recent article on the estimated cost of Frances

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u ... icane_dc_5

[HurricaneGirl]

Everyone I've talked to at work lost power or is still without power. I am the only one who didn't lose power! I feel very fortunate indeed. We did lose our cable for most of the day yesterday so I couldn't get online but it came back on late last night.

A lot of tree damage up here and reports of houses being hit by trees, but no major catastrophes.

[JQ Public]

Anyone else notice that list? Why is the strongest Storm with the least damage amount, and the weaker, like the Cat 1 over 15billion

Isabel skirted the easter half of NC so it didn't cause as much $ damage except around the tidewater of VA.

[recmod]

I dunno about that Yahoo News report of lower damage estimates. Here in Central FL, the TV news as well as the Orlando Sentinel are giving early estimates of between $5-$15 Billion for Frances alone....that's on top of the $7.4 Billion in INSURED losses that Charley caused.
Of course, these estimates will vary widely in coming days as a better damage assessment is completed.

The thing to remember with Frances: While individual counties in Florida are reporting less severe levels of damage with Frances vs. Charley, the extensive reach of Frances' impact across vast areas of the state is likely to make the overall damage total higher than Charley.

--Lou

[caneman]

I dunno about that Yahoo News report of lower damage estimates. Here in Central FL, the TV news as well as the Orlando Sentinel are giving early estimates of between $5-$15 Billion for Frances alone....that's on top of the $7.4 Billion in INSURED losses that Charley caused.
Of course, these estimates will vary widely in coming days as a better damage assessment is completed.

The thing to remember with Frances: While individual counties in Florida are reporting less severe levels of damage with Frances vs. Charley, the extensive reach of Frances' impact across vast areas of the state is likely to make the overall damage total higher than Charley.

--Lou

I'm hearing 10 Billion. It wasn't just the size of the storm but also the constant pounding for 36 hours. Both combined made this one nasty broad.

[JtSmarts]

With 6-10 Billion from Frances, around 15 Billion from Charley, and probably about a billion dollars damage overall from Alex, Bonnie, and Gaston combined 2004 Could surely go down as one the costliest seasons in history. Hopefully Ivan wont add to the total.