Hurricane Harvey: The Costliest Natural Disaster in U.S. History
Hurricane Harvey has dissipated, but the ruin it left in it’s path will leave a lasting impact.
Hurricane Harvey has at least 51 confirmed deaths (1 in Guyana and 50 in the United States) and has forced more than 30,000 peoples from their homes. The human damage caused by this storm is insane, but what about financial damage?
The White House is requesting Congress to approve nearly $7.9 billion in funding as a down-payment for Harvey, composed of $7.4 billion for FEMA’s disaster relief fund and a $450 million loan for the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program. Total losses from Harvey could reach $190 billion, according to a prediction by AccuWeather. Only about $6.5 billion to $9.5 billion of those costs will be covered by insurers according to CoreLogic.
This sad event in U.S. history should serve as a message to how powerful nature can be and how we can improve. As various other hurricanes approach the U.S., we can only hope it won’t be as bad as Hurricane Harvey.
