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The extent of the damage in the states of Louisiana and Texas from Hurricane Laura can only be truly seen and estimated today, Saturday. According to experts, the destruction is likely to cost the insurance industry up to $ 12 billion. Insurance service provider Corelogic, which specializes in risk analysis, estimated insured damages in residential and commercial buildings at between $ 8 billion and $ 12 billion.
Laura had caused severe damage to the US coastline in the Gulf of Mexico with the force of a hurricane and had weakened into a tropical storm over Louisiana. With winds of over 55 mph and heavy rain, Laura moved east through Arkansas and Missouri on Friday.
At least six dead from falling trees.
Corelogic experts said many victims may no longer be able to repay their home loans after a hurricane. In this way, Laura could make the economic situation of families that are already fighting the coronavirus pandemic even more difficult.
Laura hit the American continent on Thursday with winds of up to 150 miles per hour. At least six people were killed, including a 14-year-old girl. Four of the fatalities died because trees fell on houses, Louisiana State Governor John Bel Edwards said. The force of the storm covered the roofs, tore the facades of the houses and caused the pylons to bend. The power grid was severely damaged, Edwards said.
First of up to eleven hurricanes
The governor also made it clear that authorities feared an even worse scenario. The hurricane center had warned of storm surges up to twenty feet high. The authorities had ordered hundreds of thousands of people to safety.
Laura went from category two to category four (out of five) in a matter of hours on Wednesday. It was the first major hurricane of the season. The US climate agency NOAA predicts that 2020 could be a record year for hurricanes. 19 to 25 storms are expected, seven to eleven of them hurricanes. (SDA / ct)
