Hurricane Ian Threatens to Cause $210 Billion in Damages

The widespread damage caused by Hurricane Ian could result in up to $210 billion in damages and economic losses, according to a new report.

On Thursday, AccuWeather Founder and CEO Dr. Joel N. Myers said that Hurricane Ian's widespread damage, caused by "life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains," could result in $100 billion and $120 billion in damages and economic losses for Florida and some surrounding states. However, on Friday, Meyers increased his estimate to be between $180 billion and $210 billion.

"Unfortunately, upon early surveying of the scale of damage in Florida to infrastructure, homes, businesses, boats, beaches as well as loss of life, evacuations, rescues, widespread power outages and other factors, we were compelled to increase our estimate," Myers said in the press release, which was obtained by Newsweek.

"Ian will go down as one of the most damaging and impactful storms in U.S. history, along with 2017's Hurricanes Harvey, which caused $190 billion in total damage and economic loss, and Irma ($80 billion); Sandy in 2012 ($210 billion); Katrina in 2005, ($320 billion), as adjusted for inflation," AccuWeather said in initial press release on Thursday.

The report from AccuWeather comes shortly after Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm, made landfall in Florida, prompting evacuations and resulting in storm surge flooding in numerous parts of the state. On Thursday night and Friday, Ian made landfall as a Category 1 storm in other states, including Georgia and the Carolinas.

"The latest #Day1 outlook from @NWSWPC highlights high risk of excessive rainfall across a large portion of the central Florida peninsula from #Ian," the National Hurricane Center said in a tweet on Wednesday morning. "Widespread, life-threatening catastrophic flooding is expected across this portion of Florida."

The National Hurricane Center also warned of storm surge flooding reaching 12 to 18 feet above sea level as the storm passed over Florida.

According to AccuWeather, the estimated costs associated with Hurricane Ian include damages to residential and commercial properties, as well as "significant flight delays" and the closures of schools, airports and other attractions, such as Florida's theme parks.

Jonathan Porter, a chief meteorologist with AccuWeather told Newsweek that costs associated with hurricane damage "is always related to the intensity of the storm, its impacts and then where it strikes."

"Location is very key to that. If it's in a more rural area where it's not as built up that's one thing, versus another area where there's lots of people, lots of infrastructure, lots of businesses, lots of homes," Porter said. "And unfortunately, where this struck...in a heavily populated area, Naples, Fort Meyers, Port Charlotte...some of these places where there's many buildings, many businesses, many homes, many people, lots of infrastructure."

According to the press release, AccuWeather based its estimate on "an analysis incorporating independent methods to evaluate all direct and indirect impacts of the storm, includes both insured and uninsured losses, and is based on a variety of sources, statistics, and unique techniques AccuWeather uses to estimate the damage."

Following the estimated cost of the damages associated with Ian, Meyers said that it "largely accounts for damage to homes, businesses, medical facilities, roadways and vehicles as well as power outages, which results in food spoilage and interruption to medical care."

On Thursday morning, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Ian to a tropical storm; however, it is expected to bring heavy rainfall to other states, including Georgia and the Carolinas.

Porter told Newsweek that the AccuWeather estimate is also based on the storm's potential damage in these other states.

Newsweek reached out to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's office for comment.

Update 9/30/2022, 4:49 p.m. ET: The headline and this story have been updated to reflect the new estimate reported by AccuWeather.