Katrina vs. Andrew damage est.

[jpigott]

i don't mean to be callaous given the current situation on the ground in the gulf coast, but i can't believe they are giving comparable damage estimates for Katrina that Andrew had. Look, i live in south florida and went down to homestead for relief efforts, South Dade was destroyed. But it was nothing in scope to what i'm seeing now. From Biloxi westward to East NO from the Gulf to 1/2 mile inland everything is either completely gone or uninhabitable, then we get to NO proper with all the flooding. And how do you calculate displacing the entire populace of a major metro area for perhaps 2+ months. I could go on and on . . .

[Courtnay Mccullers]

i agree. in insured property damage, there might be an argument (though i expect katrina to top 40-50 billion)

but when you consider the lost economic impact that new orleans is going to suffer... there is just no comparing the two.

the only thing this should be compared to in terms of economic impact, and maybe, casualties, would be 9/11

[Buck]

I've seen damage estimates comperable to Andrew's... but I've also seen those in the $45-50 billion range.

[tallywx]

On NPR this morning, an insurance analyst stated that the insured damage estimate does not and will not include any damage due to flooding (since that number is covered by the fed. gov't). therefore, the only damage number being thrown out currently is "damage due to wind and rain-driven effects, not surge or new orleans flooding" and apparently that alone is about equal to andrew.

i wish the mainstream media would make this distinction. once the final damage tallys are available, it's going to be a $100 billion storm or more. (wind damage alone, using the 2:1 ratio to take into account uninsured property, would already put this at $40-50 billion).

[Brent]

It's going to exceed Andrew and not even be close... a lot of those early estimates were before New Orleans flooded and before we saw the worst damage on the MS coast.

[Stratusxpeye]

I dont even think there could be a comparison to andrew. This thingwill be #1 in the United states for hurricane damage and lives lost. Imo

[jpigott]

45-50 billion, i haven't heard those reports yet, but that does seem more reasonable (for insured property damage only though), the economic impact is what is going to be really difficult to get a grasp of. Just stop and think about what is happening; the city of NO for all intents and purposes is off the grid for the next couple of months and it will much longer than that until things return to normal. Even with 9/11 it was just the wall st. district that was off limits (believe me i'm not minimalizing that, particularly given that area was the worlds financial headquarters) and alot of that kind of work was more easily transported to other areas.

[Patrick99]

It's not even really comparable - Andrew's damage swath here in FL was mainly confined to one mere county. And just the southern half of it at that! I am not counting any damage incurred on the west coast of FL on the exit, because I'm not sure how much there was, if any.

The path may have been similar (in fact, there seems to be a similar thread in the tracks of Andrew, Betsy and Katrina), but beyond that I think any Katrina/Andrew comparison is one of apples and oranges.

[soonertwister]

I personally think that 40-50 billion is far too low. I believe the total damage in the city of New Orleans alone may exceed that.

[AL Chili Pepper]

I personally think that 40-50 billion is far too low. I believe the total damage in the city of New Orleans alone may exceed that.

Well, 40-50 billion dollars is where I step off. It's hard for me to imagine how much money that is.

[cancunkid]

This brings up a question I have do they figure in the amount of damage including uninsured homes and businesses? I keep reading about what the insurance companies are figuring to pay in claims but a lot of the people who lost the most probably didn't have insurance of any kind and many people don't have flood insurance either. Beyond that many flood insurance policies have a deductible of up to 18% on the coast.

[gratefulnole]

On NPR this afternoon they interviewed a reporter from Miami who went through Andrew and has covered many hurricanes since. He went to New Orleans last saturday and made it to Mississippi yesterday morning. He said that Andrew was like one nuclear bomb and Katrina was like ten hydrogen bombs. When asked where it was the worst, he said everywhere hit was the worst. The damage was different in each place but that everything he saw in La. and Miss. was total devastation.

[blueeyes_austin]

How much does it cost to rebuild a major US city? Pick a number. $100 billion? $200 billion?

This is so far beyond Andrew as to be a different category of economic loss.

[ChaserUK]

I think your right on that one - we keep talking damage costs here - rebuilding after something like this is something very very different.

[Downdraft]

New Orleans is the largest seaport in the U.S. Especially for petroleum products. When you consider this is a metropolitan city with a total lack of commerce and business and the economic impact upon the nation as a whole this is a 100 BILLION dollar storm easily. Damages are based upon total storm impact not just insurance losses to replace wood and shingles.

[Swimdude]

Yup, Andrew's record lasted 13 years.

No way Andrew was worse than Katrina.

[WeatherEmperor]

Im not even gonna dare to speculate on damage estimates. Ill leave that to the officials to determine their best damage estimates.

<RICKY>