Lingering tropical storm-force winds and flooding expected to be a significant contributor to overall damages across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas

CoreLogic^®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, announced initial residential and commercial storm surge and wind loss estimates for Hurricane Helene. According to this initial data analysis, wind and storm surge losses for insured residential and commercial properties in Florida and Georgia are expected to be between $3 and $5 billion. Updated damage estimates that will also include inland flood loss will be announced early next week after the storm has subsided.

“Hurricane Helene made landfall near Perry, Florida, an area that has less robust home construction standards than south Florida, which is accustomed to large landfalling hurricanes every couple of years,” said Tom Larsen, associate vice president of hazard and risk management at CoreLogic. “We expect a great deal of atypical damages in Florida’s Big Bend region due to this area’s inexperience enduring intense hurricanes.”

Larsen added, “We anticipate the damaging effects of Helene will be deep inland with a large contribution of loss concentrated in the state of Georgia. We can look to Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne (Florida, 2004) and Superstorm Sandy (New York, 2012) as examples. These storms affected large swaths of residents with tropical storm- and hurricane-force winds and triggered widespread losses.”

Hurricane Helene, the eighth named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane in Florida's Big Bend region at approximately 11:10 p.m. EDT Thursday. The most powerful storm to ever hit the Florida Big Bend region, Hurricane Helene brought a 20-foot storm surge and 140 mph maximum sustained windspeeds Thursday evening. On Friday, the storm surge affecting sections of Florida’s Big Bend and parts of the west coast is expected to subside. Strong wind gusts will continue to spread inland across Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, particularly in the southern Appalachians' higher elevations, bringing potential power outages.

More on Hurricane Helene loss estimates

Losses include damage to buildings, contents and business interruption for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural property. The flood losses do not include precipitation-induced inland flooding and exclude losses to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This estimate does not include damage to offshore property. As Hurricane Helene moved across Florida on Friday, life-threatening flash flooding, including urban flooding and significant landslides, is forecasted to impact portions of the southern Appalachians throughout the day. In northwestern and northern Florida and throughout the southeast, widespread flash and urban flooding is also expected, with significant river flooding likely, and some areas may experience major or record-breaking levels. CoreLogic will produce flood loss estimates early next week.

Visit the CoreLogic Hazard HQ Command Central™ center to get access to the most up-to-date Hurricane Helene storm data and see reports from previous storms.

Methodology

CoreLogic offers high-resolution location information solutions with a view of hazard and vulnerability consistent with the latest science for more realistic risk differentiation. The high-resolution storm surge modeling using 10m digital elevation model (DEM) and parcel-based geocoding precision from PxPoint™ facilitates this realistic view of risk. Single-family residential structures less than four stories, including mobile homes, duplexes, manufactured homes and cabins (among other non-traditional home types) are included in this analysis. Multifamily residences are also included. This is not an indication that there will be no damage to other types of structures, as there may be associated wind or debris damage and are not tabulated in this release.

Source: CoreLogic

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