Wilma Revised

[HURAKAN]

On September 28, 2006, Wilma was revised to add one more death that ocurred in Grand Bahama Island and to increase the damage cost to $20.6 billion dollars, which assures her place as the 3rd costlist hurricane in US History behind Katrina and Andrew.

If you want to read more,

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL252005_Wilma.pdf

[Derek Ortt]

20.6 billion?

And Wilma was not even a major hurricane when it impacted the metro areas of South Florida and its cat 3 winds were only experienced by the Salt Water crocs

Goes to show just how vulnerable S Fla is... and how lucky Key West was that Wilma's eyewall missed by just 5 miles

[Evil Jeremy]

but remember its wind field! Hurricane winds all over SFL!

[JonathanBelles]

and also remember the east coast got hit just as hard as the west coast.

[Evil Jeremy]

and i think that that report also includes damage totals from the "Yucatan Peninsula"!!!!!

[tgenius]

I would hope it does, because everyone said I was crazy when comparing Andrew in 2006 (with the residents having increased + house costs increasing) When Wilma by herself is more than Andrew.

[CrazyC83]

and i think that that report also includes damage totals from the "Yucatan Peninsula"!!!!!

No it doesn't. I read from the Mexican site that it was around $7.5B (80 billion Pesos) in Mexico.

http://smn.cna.gob.mx/ciclones/tempo200 ... /wilma.pdf - PDF, in Spanish, says 30B (MXN) in property and 50B (MXN) in agricultural losses.

Cuba damage was estimated at $700M (USD). http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db9 ... enDocument

Total damage: around or just under $30 billion USD, based on estimating the damage everywhere else (Jamaica, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Belize, Bahamas and after becoming extratropical).

[Derek Ortt]

The 700 million from Cuba might just be the Havana tidal surge damage (of course, after Charley and Ivan the year before, there was not really anything to damage west of Havana)

Canada was fortunate that Wilma had made the last minute turn, or else it would have been worse than Juan for the region

One other thing Wilma shows that the winds in a hurricane are very destructive. About 95% of Wilma's 20.6 billion was wind damage as the tidal surge only affected the Keys, and they did nto receive the worst surge. The worst surge hit the crocigators in the Everglades. We hear all the time that the surge is the most destructive part of a cane, but Wilma is a reminder that the wind is just as destructive, if not more so

[MGC]

A hurricane can destroy one house in S Fla and it would take a different hurricane hitting say Mississippi would have to destroy 10 houses. 20 Billion in South Fla is like 5 billion here. House prices and building costs are far greater in Fla.

[Jim Cantore]

Heres how the top ten looks now

1. Katrina $81,200,000,000
2. Andrew $26,500,000,000
3. Wilma $20,600,000,000
4. Charley $15,700,000,000
5. Ivan $14,600,000,000
6. Rita $10,000,000,000
7. Frances $8,900,000,000
8. Hugo $7,000,000,000
9. Jeanne $6,900,000,000
10. Allison $5,000,000,000

[Jim Cantore]

A hurricane can destroy one house in S Fla and it would take a different hurricane hitting say Mississippi would have to destroy 10 houses. 20 Billion in South Fla is like 5 billion here. House prices and building costs are far greater in Fla.

Tell me about it, New Jersey is the same way. Down the shore, little shacks go for near a half a million.

[Josephine96]

Amazing how most of the top 10 are now all recent storms.. {Not including Andrew as he was 14 years ago}

[CrazyC83]

Amazing how most of the top 10 are now all recent storms.. {Not including Andrew as he was 14 years ago}

Hugo was also quite a while ago.

The reason is due to the huge growth in construction and increase in land values in coastal areas. Not to mention inflation.

If you adjust them for inflation, the top 10 goes:

1. Katrina - $81,200,000,000
2. Andrew - $44,900,000,000
3. Wilma - $20,600,000,000
4. Charley - $15,400,000,000
5. Ivan - $14,600,000,000
6. Hugo - $12,600,000,000
7. Agnes - $11,600,000,000
8. Betsy - $11,100,000,000
9. Rita - $10,000,000,000
10. Frances (tie) - $9,100,000,000
10. Camille (tie) - $9,100,000,000

[TheShrimper]

I question the dollar figures attatched to both Charley and Wilma, after being in those both and Andrew. Charley, too small, no populated areas till Orlando. Wilma, the same, Everglades City, no big deal. As far as impact on the east coast for Wilma, boils down to shoddy construction. There is no way Wilma or Charley's destruction was even close to half of what Andrew inflicted, not even weighing in the LA. landfall of Andy. Witnessed all three firsthandedly, and it does not figure.

[AussieMark]

ANdrew was a small hurricane

Wilma was a large hurricane

also remember ANdrew was in 1992

about 14 years ago

was 12 years when Charley came thru

and 13 years when Wilma came thru

I imagine the cost of property and the population of Florida has dramatically increased in that time

[Derek Ortt]

Charley did about $3 billion in Orlando and probably another Billion on the way from Orlando to Daytona.

It also hit Sanibel and captiva Island, where the housing prices were higher, so an inflation adjusted total of about 1/3 that of Andrew seems about right for obliterating Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, and Arcadia

Wilma surprises me. But that just shows how destructive ANY hurricane is when it hits the center of a major America city... even if it only brings low end cat 1 winds like Wilma did to Miami (though Lauderdale did get cat 2 winds)

[CrazyC83]

Charley did about $3 billion in Orlando and probably another Billion on the way from Orlando to Daytona.

It also hit Sanibel and captiva Island, where the housing prices were higher, so an inflation adjusted total of about 1/3 that of Andrew seems about right for obliterating Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, and Arcadia

Wilma surprises me. But that just shows how destructive ANY hurricane is when it hits the center of a major America city... even if it only brings low end cat 1 winds like Wilma did to Miami (though Lauderdale did get cat 2 winds)

Not to mention Andrew did NOT hit Miami directly - had it been 15 miles to the north, the damage may have been over $100B...

[Ptarmigan]

A hurricane can destroy one house in S Fla and it would take a different hurricane hitting say Mississippi would have to destroy 10 houses. 20 Billion in South Fla is like 5 billion here. House prices and building costs are far greater in Fla.

Real estate is much higher in Florida, especially around West Palm Beach and Miami. Real estate price is rising in Mississippi as more people move there. I notice most of the top 10 damages are in Florida.

[Ixolib]

A hurricane can destroy one house in S Fla and it would take a different hurricane hitting say Mississippi would have to destroy 10 houses. 20 Billion in South Fla is like 5 billion here. House prices and building costs are far greater in Fla.

J, you took the words right out of my mouth!!!

In Wilma, it was the value of the property that was damaged more so than the velocity of the winds. Had Wilma hit an area of less costly real estate - even one with a similar mass of population - the $$ amount in damages, IMO, would have been significantly less. I would imagine that very few - if any - homes in that part of the country go for less than $250K, and most are much more. And of course, we can't forget the high-dollar pool enclousures in everyone's backyard that can blow away in a strong tstm... It's even possible that the same storm hitting Mississippi wouldn't have even made the top ten list in terms of damage costs...

[Derek Ortt]

The same type of storm did hit Mississippi last year.

Katrina struck MS with maximum sustained winds of 105KT, the same as Wilma when it impacted Florida.

MS endured the brunt of a 30 foot tidal surge, while the tidal surge of Wilma, except in the Keys, which did not receive even half of the worst surge, struck the crocigators. A Wilma type storm into MS, may even produce a higher surge than Katrina, since Wilma was slightly larger

Yes, prpperty values are high, and those pool enclosures are rediculous. However,most are not insured, so that may not be factoring into the damage. The very high population density also is a large component of the damage (why we have large cities on the hurricane coast is beyond me)