[POLL] What do you think the cost $$ will be

[Jonathan Whitehead]

I "finished" my homework from class this evening and decided to catch up on the coverage and wound up watching about 2 and half hours worth. Im just glued and have to force myself to walk away from the tv. But I was wondering with all this devastation and some major cities and towns having been hit, what do you think the final cost will be w/ Katrina?
Do you think it will rank in the top 5? Is there a chance it could rival Andrew? My personal opinion is that Andrew isnt completely out of reach.

 

[Michael Auker]

With half of New Orleans being submerged and such catastrophic damage elsewhere, it'll likely exceed Andrew in monetary damage.

 

[Justin Turcotte]

#1. Just wait until you see some aerial shots east of N.O., especially on the MS coast. A 30+ foot surge would be like the tsunami that hit portions of Asia but with much less momentum. Lost oil & gas production alone should be worth over $2B.

 

[Blake Michaleski]

The photos images of New Orleans and The MS Coast are just terrible.

No Doubt, number 1 monetary damage.

 

[Brandon Clement]

I heard an estimate between 9-29 billion on the news, but they have no clue. I don't see how K could be under 50 Billion. The cleanup is going to take years and we have not even seen Bay St. Louis/Pass Christian area or lower St. Bernard/Plaquamines or the strip in Gulfport/Biloxi. Another thing that is not really being shown on the national level is the damage in Hattiesburg, Magee, Jackson metro, Merridian and all the towns and cities in between. I know in the Jackson metro area there could be well over a 250 million and Hattiesburg will be more. If you take into account the loss of the oil rigs, loop and the oil refineries the totals will jump billions a day. Cruise's leaving out of New Orleans and tourism will be another large tab. The total monetary damages will be staggering.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

More than 50 billion. Probably more than 100 billion. New Orleans is destroyed -- destroyed to the point that it more or less no longer exists.

 

[Chris Sokol]

More than 50 billion. Probably more than 100 billion. New Orleans is destroyed -- destroyed to the point that it more or less no longer exists.

Woah...where in the world did you get that from? People were already walking around the French Quarter today. Major damage...yes. No longer exists? Not even close.

 

[Anonymous]

More than 50 billion. Probably more than 100 billion. New Orleans is destroyed -- destroyed to the point that it more or less no longer exists.

Woah...where in the world did you get that from? People were already walking around the French Quarter today. Major damage...yes. No longer exists? Not even close.

NO still "exists", however I highly doubt the French Quarter looks anything like it did yesterday afternoon with the very major lake breach. The dawn of day will likely reveal a very *very* sobering picture of 6-10 plus feet of water over much of N.O. including downtown and the FQ... it will be very interesting and, unfortunately, sad to see The flood damage will be incomprehendable.

Mike U

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

More than 50 billion. Probably more than 100 billion. New Orleans is destroyed -- destroyed to the point that it more or less no longer exists.

Woah...where in the world did you get that from? People were already walking around the French Quarter today. Major damage...yes. No longer exists? Not even close.

WIth 80% of the city underwater, how does it "exist"? Msot of those structures (residences anyway) will need to be bulldozed and rebuilt after being underwater for weeks or months. If you erase 80% of a city's standing structures and completely destroy the electric, water, and gas infrastructure, is the city still a city?

 

[Carla Bisby]

I voted 60+ billion. Much of the area hit will have to be totally rebuilt including some of NO. The price will be staggering. I wonder how many destroyed areas will choose not to rebuild. The cost and time will be incredible and many people who live there will probably want to move father inland. There could be some ghost towns down there.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I think I originally voted $31-40 billion... Most reports I've seen in the past day have indicated that insurers are estimating mainly $11-$25 billion. I can't imagine how the total damage will be this little. Heck, damage in New Orleans could top $20 billion, and New Orleans damage doesn't compare to some of the wind and surge damage incurred across much of coastal Mississippi.

 

[Cindy Simons]

Andrew came ashore and "it caused about $26.5 billion in damage -- including damage not covered by insurance -- before inflation, U.S. government data show." If you adjust the cost to include inflation, the cost is much higher today. I read one report which calculated Andrew w/ inflation at $44 billion, but I don't know if that is accurate.

Katrina will easily exceed Andrew. Remember the city of Miami wasn't badly damaged. The port wasn't damaged. The flooding was localized. Katrina is very different: she flooded an entire city. Every single car, building, home is damaged as a result of the flooding. She damaged oil rigs - that has a heavy price tag. She destroyed a major port - that has a major price tag.

The Cost? I think it will be mind-blowing!


source of the $26.5 figures:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050829/ts_nm/...na_insurance_dc

 

[Bob Schafer]

I have the advantage of entering this now that we have an inkling of the scope, but...

I think the poll figures should read something more like this:

$50bil
$100bil
$150bil
$200bil
$250bil+

Bob

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Not that we weren't expecting this...

From CNN.com

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding in the Southeast could cost the economy more than $100 billion, which would make it the costliest storm to hit the United States, a company that assesses the impact of natural disasters said Friday.

Katrina could cost economy $100B: Estimated figure would make hurricane the costliest to hit the United States, topping Andrew.

 

[Michael P. Morris]

Worst. Disaster. Evar.

No question that just the INSURED losses will soar higher than Andrew, and the uninsured losses will probably be about twice to thrice that.