Hurricane Laura is one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the US Gulf Coast, but its path avoided major cities such as Houston and New Orleans, causing less damage — to people and their towns — than initially feared.
An early estimate from CoreLogic is that insured losses from the storm, which has killed six people, will be between $8 billion and $12 billion.
Almost all those costs will come in Louisiana, with insured losses in Texas coming to less than $500 million, according to the estimate.
Another estimate from Moody’s Analytics is that the total economic cost, including damaged structures and businesses temporarily closed during the storm, will be in the neighborhood of $20 billion.
Laura’s ferocious winds tore off roofs and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. But the damage is far less severe than some recent storms that hit more populated areas.