Property damage caused by Hurricane Florence could approach the $5 billion mark, according to one research firm.
CoreLogic, a global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, projects about 250,000 homes, with the majority in North Carolina, are likely to be affected by the hurricane’s wind and storm surge. Winds in South Carolina are not expected to exceed tropical storm force winds.
Estimated damage is in the $3 billion to $5 billion range. CoreLogic said its estimate does not include National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) inland flood losses (only storm surge related NFIP flood losses) as it is too soon to tell what the potential rainfall, riverine, and other flooding will amount to in order to tabulate losses for that peril.
Projections were based on the storm being classified as a Category 2.
On Monday, when the storm was being projected to hit landfall as a Category 4, CoreLogic estimated damage could near $170 billion.
Counties expected to experience the most amount of damage are Onslow and Pender counties with New Hanover, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Bladen, and Duplin counties also expected to sustain damage, though to a slightly lesser degree based on location.