Discussion Paper

The Devastation of Hurricane Helene: The Fifth District

Abstract: The impact of Hurricane Helene is still reverberating across the Southeast with each day bringing new revelations of the catastrophic damage to communities in the Fifth District. After making landfall on Sept. 26 in Florida, the storm moved inland, bringing wind gusts and historic levels of rainfall that destroyed homes, businesses, landscapes, and critical infrastructure, and left some areas of our district unrecognizable. The loss of life — more than 230 people as of the writing of this post — makes Hurricane Helene the deadliest mainland hurricane in the United States since Hurricane Katrina almost 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the damage to property and disruption to business activity will only be fully understood in the coming weeks and months, as households and businesses struggle to rebuild. The harm to critical infrastructure such as roads and bridges, the reliance of much of the affected area on tourism, the low flood insurance coverage in most affected communities, and the geography of the region will pose unique challenges to the long recovery ahead.

Keywords: Disaster Recovery; 5th district; economic recovery; flood insurance;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Part of Series: Regional Matters

Publication Date: 2024-10-11