Heavy traffic begins to back up on Interstate 275 South as residents evacuate St. Petersburg, Florida, ahead of Hurricane Milton, U.S., October 7, 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Octavio Jones | Reuters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Hurricane Milton’s once-in-a-century potential could cause damages of more than $50 billion, with the potential to leave behind devastation approaching $175 billion or more in a worst-case scenario, according to leading Wall Street analysts.<\/p>\n
That would be on top of the carnage already left behind by Hurricane Helene, posing a potential record-breaking path of wreckage.<\/p>\n
“While too early to make insured loss estimates, a major hurricane impact in one of Florida’s most heavily populated regions could result in mid-double-digit billion dollar loss,” Jefferies equity analyst Yaron Kinar and others said in a note. “A 1-in-100 year event is estimated by some to result in $175 [billion] in losses for landfall in the Tampa region, and $70 [billion] in losses in the [Fort] Myers region.”<\/p>\n
The extent of the potential is hard to pin down and will depend on timing and location, with a landfall closer to Fort Myers being less costly.<\/p>\n
For a historical comparison, analysts need only to look back two years, when Hurricane Ian hit near the Fort Myers area as a Category 4 storm and left behind more than $50 billion in losses. Ian was considered a 1-in-20-year event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Should Milton’s path through the more developed Tampa region hold, potential losses could be greater,” Kinar said.<\/p>\n