Blowing 100 mile-per-hour winds, Hurricane Francine ripped into Southern Louisiana on September 11, knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people. Its most dangerous and damaging effect, though, was the storm surge of seawater that it bulldozed ashore, inundating coastal parishes like Terrebonne and Lafourche. A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather puts the damage at $9 billion, which will likely be revised as scientists, insurance companies, and government officials gather more data.
In the days, weeks, and months after a hurricane like Francine makes landfall, a horde of public agencies and insurance companies try to figure out roughly how much they think the disaster will cost. That’s far more than just a number on the books: These estimates help state governments prioritize where to send aid and help kickstart insurance claims, allowing people and local economies to recover faster from disaster.
You’ll often see dramatically different estimates of hurricane damage, because each is done with its own purpose: Preliminary assessments made by, for in... Read more
