harvey damage estimated at 42 bn among most us storms
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Harvey Damage Estimated At $42 Bn, Among Most US Storms

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Harvey Damage Estimated At $42 Bn, Among Most US Storms

Harvey Damage Estimated At $42 Bn, Among Most Costly US Storms
Washington - AFP

Damage from Hurricane Harvey could put it among the top five most costly US storms ever, with failing dams and levees driving up loss forecasts, data modeling showed Tuesday.

Estimates for total economic costs and damage shot up overnight to $42 billion from $30 billion, as flooding began to spread to Louisiana and flood control measures became overwhelmed, according to Chuck Watson, founder of the disaster modeling firm Enki Research.

While authorities still focused on rescuing survivors on Tuesday, the question of the storm's aftermath -- and its expected long-lasting hit to the Texas and US economies -- was only beginning to come into view.

Recent research also shows natural disasters can result in more concentrated poverty in former disaster areas.

"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."

As yet, the storm is nowhere near as costly as 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which took a $118 billion bite out of the regional economy.

But at $42 billion in unrecoverable economic losses, Harvey would be about as damaging as Hurricane Ike, which struck Texas and parts of the Caribbean at a cost of $43 billion in 2008, and Hurricane Wilma, which tore through North America in 2005, with a cost of nearly $38 billion, according to Watson's estimates.

And the Harvey estimate could still go up.

- Fleeing the wreckage, deepening poverty -

A US energy hub with $1.6 trillion in annual economic output, Texas accounts for nearly nine percent of America's GDP, the second largest state economy after California -- and larger than Canada or South Korea.

Goldman Sachs estimated Monday that Harvey's disruptions to the energy sector alone could shave as much as 0.2 percentage points off of US GDP growth in the third quarter of this year.

Leah Boustan, professor of economics at Princeton University, said that over time natural disasters tend to cause wealthier residents to flee the devastation, leaving poorer inhabitants to face the economic fallout.

Boustan co-authored a recent study which examined data from 5,000 US floods, earthquakes and storms spanning the 20th century.

"Translating our results into the context of Houston would suggest that 23,000 residents would move away from the area over the next 10 years," she told AFP.

"We also found that very severe disasters tend to increase the poverty rate in an area by around one percentage point, which for Houston would be an increase from 25 percent to 26 percent of the population living below the poverty line," she added.

The Texas Gulf coast, home to nearly a third of the US oil refining capacity, has been ravaged by the most powerful hurricane to hit the state since 1961, which shuttered least 15 percent of US refining capacity, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In addition to oil and gas producers, Texas is home to defense contractors, computer components makers, manufacturing and a sprawling agricultural sector.

Natural disasters like floods and hurricanes can force entire towns into unemployment, interrupt tax collection and disrupt supplies of food and fuel for months, jacking up costs and reducing demand elsewhere.

- Facing reconstruction uninsured -

According to the Insurance Information Institute, only 12 percent of homeowners in designated flood areas in the United States were covered by flood insurance in 2016.

Loretta Worters, a spokesperson for the institute, told AFP the uninsured could be looking at ruin without government assistance.

"It could be total loss for them," she said.

But Watson of Enki Research said the federal maps that designate flood-prone areas -- where homeowners usually are required to obtain flood insurance -- are inaccurate and obsolete, meaning the share of people insured against damage from Harvey will be minimal.

"Our initial estimate is that two-thirds of the flooding happened outside flood zones," he said.

Recovery will be especially difficult for the poorest wage earners, whose income stops the moment they are unable to work.

"They're not getting paid. They've got bills stacked up. Their homes are damaged," he said. "That's where the real humanitarian disaster is going to happen."

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

harvey damage estimated at 42 bn among most us storms harvey damage estimated at 42 bn among most us storms

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

harvey damage estimated at 42 bn among most us storms harvey damage estimated at 42 bn among most us storms

 



GMT 12:11 2017 Thursday ,27 July

Tony Baroud to present new TV show

GMT 23:00 2017 Monday ,16 October

Egypt FM to head for Slovenia on Monday

GMT 20:06 2017 Friday ,20 January

Daesh in new demolitions at Syria’s Palmyra

GMT 21:06 2017 Friday ,24 November

Marriyum condemns Hayatabad terrorists attack

GMT 01:00 2017 Saturday ,25 November

Cabinet Affairs Minister Meets Indonesian Ambassador

GMT 02:34 2018 Thursday ,04 January

Merger creates state-owned gas giant

GMT 10:08 2017 Tuesday ,07 March

Geneva farce: The regime is the opposition

GMT 10:19 2017 Saturday ,18 November

AJK Prime Minister condemns across LoC shelling

GMT 11:34 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

33 Syrians killed in Air raid on Raqqa’s school

GMT 11:03 2017 Wednesday ,01 March

Asala declares her solidarity with George Wassouf

GMT 17:57 2017 Wednesday ,11 October

Mideast nations turn to private sector

GMT 14:11 2016 Wednesday ,30 November

Tunisia wins billion-dollar pledges to boost economy

GMT 23:41 2017 Tuesday ,26 September

Qatar laborer ‘sacked’ after speaking to UN team

GMT 04:28 2017 Tuesday ,21 March

Enrique Iglesias to headline Bahrain F1
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday