Katrina, Sandy and Harvey are making room for Helene and Milton as some of the most costly hurricanes on record.
The two recent storms are both estimated to rack up $50 billion in damages, a threshold that only eight other hurricanes have met, The Associated Press reported.
Most of the damage in Helene and Milton was not insured, particularly from Helene, which made landfall in Florida in late September before flooding western North Carolina. Milton struck south Florida in early October.
Hurricane Andrew in 1992 ranked as the first $50 billion storm. The next was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, then Sandy in 2012. Hurricanes Maria, Ian, Ida and Irma have also topped the most costly list.
The estimates from Helene and Milton are still being tallied. Adam Smith, an economist and meteorologist at NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information, told the AP he believes Helene and Milton have "a very good shot" of joining the $50 billion list.
Experts say climate change is only going to intensify the frequency and expense of claims going forward. Disaster losses along the coast are likely to escalate in the coming years, partly because of huge increases in development, said Loretta Worters, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute.
"Losses related to natural disasters have increased tenfold," Worters told Salon.
The Institute's three-year economic analysis of the pandemic shows inflation related to homeowners' replacement costs rose 55% and continues rising, she said, adding to the price of insurance coverage.
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