Workers install window shutters at an oceanfront home in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew in Garden City Beach, S.C., U.S. Oct. 5, 2016.
Randall Hill | Reuters
Nearly 954,000 are at risk of major storm surge damage from hurricane Matthew, according to CoreLogic. Those homes have a reconstruction value of just more than $189 billion. Add Georgia and South Carolina to the mix, and it rises to more than $200 billion.
This CoreLogic analysis measures the damage just from water. It does not assess additional damage from wind, which will be sustained in some areas at 125 mph. The worst of the damage will likely be where the storm makes direct landfall, which is now predicted to be Daytona Beach, Florida. Close to 97,000 homes with a reconstruction value of $19.4 billion are in danger of storm surge flooding.
Florida was the epicenter for the housing boom and bust in the early 2000s. Building permits, a strong measure of construction, were filed for more than 138,000 single-family homes in Florida’s east coast counties just from 2005 to 2008, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting.
While home construction ground to a halt in 2009, it rebounded strongly afterward and permits for another 81,000 were filed through 2015. Thousands of condominium units went up as well, but those tend to be in towers that are less susceptible to storm surge damage.
The storm is now expected to weaken before it gets to South Carolina. At a Category 2 storm level, 124,000 homes are at risk of flood damage, with a collective reconstruction cost of $32.4 billion.
Information from CNBC
