According to one report, property damage from Hurricane Barry could run up to $500 million. As many of our readers know, Hurricane Barry struck the southwest Louisiana coast recently after forming in the Gulf of Mexico.
The damage could have been a lot worse. When it struck the coast, the storm was a very weak hurricane, with winds right around 75 miles per hour. Moreover, the storm was not particularly well organized and dissipated rapidly once it hit land.
Only a small number of Louisianans actually experienced hurricane force winds, although of course strong winds, of 50 to 70 miles per hour, impacted a broader swath of the state. Moreover, like other tropical cyclones, Barry dumped heavy rain on the area, with some locations reporting 23 inches, almost 2 feet, of rain.
While the $500 million estimate is in line with what experts project the storm would cause, others estimated that damages would be higher, with wind damage alone running between $300 million and $500 million.
If anything, these numbers illustrate that there really no such thing as a minor hurricane. Any of these storms has the potential to cause property damage to the homes or businesses of those living and working along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. In this respect, people may not fully appreciate what a 75-mile-per-hour wind gust can do until they are trying to figure out how they will repair their property.
Unfortunately, dealing with insurance companies after a hurricane is not always an easy or pleasant task. Sometimes, a property owner may wind up in a coverage dispute or a dispute about how much the insurance company should pay. Having a legal professional who understands hurricane property damage insurance claims can be important under such circumstances.