Harvey to be costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, with an estimated cost of $160 billion

[BeyondGeography]

Source: USA Today

Hurricane Harvey could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with a potential price tag of $160 billion, according to a preliminary estimate from private weather firm AccuWeather. This is equal to the combined cost of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and represents a 0.8% economic hit to the gross national product, AccuWeather said.

“Parts of Houston, the United States' fourth largest city, will be uninhabitable for weeks and possibly months due to water damage, mold, disease-ridden water and all that will follow this 1,000-year flood,” said AccuWeather president Joel Myers. The Federal Reserve, major banks, insurance companies and other business leaders should begin to factor in the negative impact this catastrophe will have on business, corporate earnings and employment, Myers said.

..."AccuWeather cautions that the negative impact from the storms are far from over. There will be more flooding, damage, fatalities and injuries," Myers said. "We urge all citizens near the path of Hurricane Harvey to remain vigilant and be prepared to take immediate action if flood waters rise." The highest rainfall total from the storm so far is near Cedar Bayou, Texas, which registered 51.88 inches. This broke the contiguous-U.S. rainfall record for a tropical storm or hurricane, preliminary data from the National Weather Service show.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/08/30/harvey-costliest-natural-disaster-u-s-history-estimated-cost-160-billion/615708001/

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Here is the AccuWeather statement: https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/accuweather-predicts-hurricane-harvey-to-be-the-most-costly-natural-disaster-in-us-history/70002597

[Dustlawyer]

1. Just great!

sarcasm

[IronLionZion]

2. The answer is tax cuts

always tax cuts

[Motley13]

3. tax cuts for the rich so it can trickle down, Houston got trickled down on "bigly"

[Not Ruth]

4. And if they rebuild, look for the next storm to cost Houston more

[world wide wally]

5. Underestimated

[L. Coyote]

6. What is the cost of moving all the global cities near the ocean to higher ground?

That's the number we need to know.

[Not Ruth]

7. Let's start with not rebuilding the one that was destroyed

[L. Coyote]

9. .... every few years.

Yep! Unbridled development without even thinking about the consequences has a very high cost in the long term, but hey, get rid of government for millionaire tax cuts.

[Sunlei]

10. newer builds are higher and drainage of underground parkings worked pretty well. Its old areas that

need work on home re-builds and drainage of storm waters. All the millions of newer builds drain off on the older areas.

Streets flood first because they're intended to be drainage of rain water. Street flooding traps people in their homes or worse kills them when they try to drive out to leave.

[Sunlei]

8. 50 plus inches of rain in a week will happen again somewhere. Can any coastal state deal with that?

Climate change is real and hopefully Midterm elections, DNC will use this fact against the anti-science Republican party. This will help Ds win elections across America.

[Igel]

11. Yup.

Try that much rain that quickly in Seattle or San Francisco area and then say, "Let's relocate them."

Or worse, Baltimore.

There are mitigation strategies for any hazard, and in some cases some areas are too risk-prone to rebuild. But all of Houston? It's like saying "relocate NOLA"--something that mostly (R) said a decade back. And when Sandy slammed parts of NYC, few said, "Let's relocate those parts of the city." No, the response to both was to pour in money to help victims and additional money to not just rebuild infrastructure but to upgrade even undamaged infrastructure.

[Sunlei]

13. what broke my heart the most was most people evaced out did NOT have a decent raincoat.

all those soaked to bone people and kids, and very few with a raincoat, rain boots and umbrella. That's something I have decided I will help change in my tiny community of neighbors.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Tax cuts and stimulation is why inflation will be back big time

1,000 year flood? Let's rebuild it so climate change can do it again next year!

[Not Ruth]

14. Assuming that FEMA trailers are still a thing that the US does

They should be nowhere within 300 miles of Houston.

[NickB79]

15. This is how climate change will destroy civilization

Through repeated, devastating blows like this that bankrupt nations and collapse governments.

Welcome to the future. A lot more like Somalia or Sudan than George Jetson.

[laserhaas]

16. In my 40 years of being in distressed business management

I've never seen this large a catastrophe, here in the U.S.

[moondust]

17. RE: Zoning

August 19, 2016
~
Voters have elected to reject any efforts to pass zoning laws in Houston three different times in the past century. Today, Houston is the largest city in the country with no regulation.
~
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Weirdest-images-from-Houston-s-lack-of-zoning-laws-9171688.php

[TexasBushwhacker]

18. We got more rainfall in a few days than normally falls in a year

If we had better zoning, we would just have a flooded city with zoning. As rainy as it normally is, Houston's average annual rainfall is less than 50".

[moondust]

19. Some will say

that city planners need to prepare to some extent for the worst-case scenarios, and question whether that kind of critical decision-making should be left up to voters. In some places well-funded opponents will cry "big gubment!!!", "communism!!!" and "taxes!!!" if you turn that kind of decision-making over to government and science-based professionals where it probably belongs.

As you well know, there have been a number of floods and hurricanes in the past along the gulf coast that should have raised alarm bells years ago.

[BeyondGeography]

20. The city is overdeveloped

Parts of it never should have been built. Easy to say now, hard to do something about it.

[raccoon]

21. Not to worry, we can build a wall like the great wall of China

And still have plenty of money to rebuild Houston.

[Julian Englis]

22. FAKE NEWS: Reagan was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history

Followed by Dubya. Trump, however, is doing his best to surpass both.

[Vinca]

23. What a perfect time for cutting taxes!