Florida faces a new storm threat as the region braces for Helene

Enjoy free access to the best ideas and information – selected by our editors.

(Bloomberg) –Florida is bracing for another potentially dangerous and costly hurricane less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated a wide swath of the southeastern United States.

Tropical Storm Milton, with winds of 40 miles per hour, is expected to strengthen into a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph when it makes landfall in West Florida on Oct. 9, the National Hurricane Center said in US. Many areas in the state, including Tampa and Orlando, may receive up to 8 inches of rain. Some places could see up to 12 inches, leading to the risk of flash flooding and overflowing river banks.

“There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday,” said Dan Brown, a branch chief at the US center. “Areas of heavy rainfall will affect portions of Florida on Sunday and Monday, well ahead of Milton.”

Based on current estimates, if Milton hits Tampa Bay as a major hurricane, damage and losses could reach $100 billion to $200 billion, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler at Enki Research. Higher losses would require Milton to exceed the current forecast, which the U.S. National Hurricane Center said is possible.

AccuWeather expects the economic impact of Hurricane Helene to be up to $250 billion, making it one of the five costliest U.S. storms ever. Insured losses would be only a small part of this, catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & ​​Co. expects a cost to insurers of about $6.4 billion, according to an early estimate.

Read more: Insurance losses from Hurricane Helene are expected to reach $6.4 billion

Florida residents could face widespread power outages, tornadoes and storm surges over the next week, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck said Saturday.

The storm threat comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene tore a path of destruction across the Southeast, leaving behind a humanitarian and economic crisis. There are at least 225 people confirmed dead in six states and countless others have been displaced.

“There has been loss of life due to storm-related flooding around Tampa Bay, the St. Pete,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger. “We could see another significant storm surge with the way this storm is coming in.”

Milton’s winds are on track to reach speeds of 40 mph or more, including in parts of southern Georgia and South Carolina, also still being passed by Helene.

Read more: Harris offers visiting relief commitments to Storm-Hit North Carolina

The storm is currently expected to become a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale by Monday morning. It could become a Category 2 or 3 hurricane by the time it hits central Florida on Oct. 9, causing significant damage to trees, structures and other buildings, forecasters predict.

In the US, natural disasters become more expensive and more common as global warming supercharges storms and wildfires. Another massive Atlantic storm in the southeast could strain trade, potentially affecting regional ports. It also may stretch federal dollars further as U.S. agencies work to distribute resources to help areas affected by Helene recover.

“A hurricane that makes landfall is almost always a multi-million dollar disaster,” Deger said.

Listen to Zero: Climate change ‘stacks the weather dice against us’