Local Losses

Last year, when Hurricane Harvey barreled into Houston it destroyed $125 billion of property but reduced GDP by just $8.5 billion. Even Katrina, which did $161 billion of damage, reduced economic output by just $31 billion, and overall GDP was a strong 3.6% that quarter. These events aren’t big enough to hit a $20 trillion economy. While Hurricane Florence has done $30-$35 billion in damage, lost GDP will be tiny.