Hurricane Milton has made landfall. Early damage estimates based on a 'once-in-a-century' storm may not hold up, but it will take days before more is known.
More than 250,000 commercial buildings in the state have a 50% chance of being exposed to winds of at least 50 miles per hour, according to Moody's. The total estimated value is $1.1 trillion. This is not to say that most let alone all of the properties will face serious weather damage.
"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 according to CNBC. "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."
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When Hurricane Ian landed near Fort Myers, the storm was a Category 4, a 1-in-20-year event, and it resulted in $50 billion in losses. But a "smaller" hurricane can still cause tremendous damage, depending on circumstances.
In 2013, Hurricane Sandy landed in New Jersey as a Category 1 storm, as it had lost significant strength, according to a report from the National Hurricane Center. However, its "tremendous size" caused a "catastrophic" storm surge causing $50 billion in damage.
Milton came ashore as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa, bringing with it torrential rain, 100-mile-per-hour winds and numerous tornadoes. It traveled across the central part of the state and is expected to have crossed into the Atlantic by this morning. Early reports are starting to come in about its impact. Several people have reportedly been killed and the roof on Tropicana Field, the home stadium of the Tampa Bay Rays, in St. Petersburg, was torn to shreds.
Any attempts to understand the actual damage at this point, though, is impossible. It will take time, and daylight, to see what has happened.
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