Impacts of Hurricane Helene

The forecasters were not wrong about Hurricane Helen. They predicted that it could rapidly increase in severity and the size of the storm was well understood. Storm surge predictions were on the money. However, the results were much more impactful than people expected. Entire small communities in the Big Bend area were wiped off the map because of the storm surge. What was even more surprising was the flash flooding that occurred in the mountain areas of the Carolinas. Flooding and landslides took out bridges, homes, cars and lives.

As we hear many times after a disaster, “I’ve lived here all my life and never experienced anything like this!” In many instances the small-town story was the same, rapidly rising waters and people barely getting out of their homes in time to survive the flood. The damages to roads and bridges is apparently huge. Those are not easily replaced and when they are—the designs need to take into account the potential for more intense storms in the future.

Another impact I keep writing about is home insurance. People who had none, will likely walk away from their properties and have to move. There have been three hurricanes impacting the same area of Florida in the last 12 months. If that doesn’t make you want to move, I don’t know what will. Remember, insurance premiums will be going up “everywhere” and more companies will be bailing out of areas with a high propensity for future disasters.  A crisis in home insurance is approaching soon!