Hurricane Milton could cost $60 billion in insured losses

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Hurricane Milton could cause up to $60 billion in insurance losses if it continues on its current path, with analysts warning that the 2024 US hurricane season will “dent” insurers' profitability.

The National Hurricane Center forecast that the storm, which is heading toward Florida, would make landfall about 40 miles south of Tampa on Wednesday night as an “extremely dangerous major hurricane.” It is currently a Category 4 cyclone, with winds of up to 155mph.

Credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS estimated that the change in course could cause up to $100 billion in damages if Tampa were to hit directly, which would be on par with Hurricane Katrina and make it one of the costliest natural disasters. American history.

The head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dean Criswell, said Wednesday that Milton would be a “deadly and catastrophic storm” that would bring “massive storm surge, high winds and flash flooding” to Florida.

Milton is the second major hurricane to hit the United States in a fortnight. It comes after Hurricane Helen wreaked havoc across several southeastern states, killing more than 225 people and destroying roads across western North Carolina.

Morningstar warned that the accumulation of losses during the 2024 hurricane season, which runs through the end of November, “will likely take a toll on insurers' profits,” particularly for those with “significant exposure to personal lines in Florida.”

On Wednesday, U.S. financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was “closely monitoring” the impact of Hurricane Milton on investors and capital markets and would consider granting relief from filing deadlines for those affected by the storm.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said 6,000 members of the Florida National Guard and 3,000 members from other states are ready to respond after the hurricane.

Evacuees take shelter at a school in Bradenton, Florida © AFP via Getty Images

Hurricane Milton could cost billion in insured losses — Flood protection barriers outside a Tampa hospital © Reuters

“This is the largest Florida National Guard search and rescue operation in the entire history of the state of Florida,” he told reporters Wednesday.

DeSantis tried to reassure Floridians about fuel availability after reports that some gasoline stations had run dry due to panic buying. Highway patrol cars were escorting tankers through traffic to replenish supplies at petrol stations, he said.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for leading an “attack of lies” about the US government's response to the storm.

Trump has tried to politicize both Hurricane Helen and Hurricane Milton by accusing the Biden administration of not doing enough to help communities affected by the storms. He spread false information about the amount of financial aid available to people fleeing disaster areas.

“Over the past few weeks, there has been a reckless, irresponsible and misleading campaign and outright falsehoods that are upsetting people,” Biden said. “It undermines confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been undertaken and will continue to be undertaken It hurts those who need help the most.”

Biden also attacked a social media post by Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who suggested the government take control of the weather.

“It's beyond ridiculous,” he said. “It has to stop”.

In the Tampa Bay area, officials were sending text messages and calls to warn people of the dangers of failing to evacuate their homes. In Pinellas County, which sits on the peninsula that forms Tampa Bay, officials warned people to “get out now.”

Emergency management director Kathy Perkins said 13 public shelters were open for people with no other options to escape the hurricane, and bridges to Tampa were warned to close soon. “Everybody in Tampa Bay should assume we're going to be ground zero,” he said.

Map showing rainfall forecast from Hurricane Milton between October 8 and 10. More than 300 mm (12 in) of rain is expected in parts of Florida

Meanwhile, an independent group of climate scientists said human-caused climate change increased Hurricane Helen's devastating rainfall by about 10 percent and its winds by about 11 percent.

Global warming from burning fossil fuels has made higher ocean temperatures 200 to 500 times more likely to fuel storms, a new report by the World Weather Attribution Group found.