With no insurance, Harvey victims knock at govt door for aid
Hurricane Harvey’s devastation will be among the costliest of any storm in US history but, with most not covered by insurance, victims are left hoping for government aid and community support.
With flooded houses, totaled cars, downed power grids and damaged infrastructure, rebuilding from Harvey, which struck southeast Texas and part of Louisiana, will require large-scale mobilisation.
According to the White House, some 100,000 households have been affected by the disaster. Analysts have offered damage estimates varying from $30 billion to $100 billion.
Chuck Watson of the disaster modelling firm Enki Research said on Friday there was a great deal of uncertainty surrounding estimates so soon after an event of this scale.
“Normally at this point we would wait about a year and then come back and see how well the models did,” he said.
In a final research note published on Thursday, Mr Watson said his median estimate for economic and property damage was $78 billion, which would make Harvey second only to 2005’s Hurricane Katrina in terms of cost. By Watson’s calculation, that storm had a cost of $118 billion.
A German team of experts on natural disasters said on Thursday that for Texas alone the damages should rise to $58 billion.