NEW ORLEANS – (Realty News Report) – Hurricane Ida, forecast to reach Category 4 strength, poses a significant storm surge threat to the Gulf Coast, putting an estimated 941,392 homes along the Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi coasts at risk of surge-related damage, according to CoreLogic.
CoreLogic, a property information and analytics firm, estimates the combined reconstruction cost value of these homes at approximately $220.37 billion.
Ida is expected to become a major hurricane and make landfall on the evening of Sunday, August 29.
The National Weather Service predicts landfall along the central Louisiana coast, with substantial effects expected in adjacent regions.
Because of Ida’s intensity and expansive wind field, three primary hazards are anticipated: damaging winds between 130 and 156 mph, life-threatening storm surge up to 15 feet, and extremely heavy, widespread rainfall of 10 to 15 inches.
“Atmospheric conditions are highly favorable for rapid intensification after Ida emerges from Cuba on Saturday into Sunday,” said Dr. Daniel Betten, meteorologist and senior leader for Weather Science at CoreLogic. “Ida will also be passing over an extremely warm loop current, which is known to contribute to the rapid intensification of hurricanes in the central Gulf of Mexico, most famously seen with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.”
Four years earlier, Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast and produced as much as 50 inches of rain over the Houston area in late August 2017.
The National Hurricane Center has noted that Harvey was the most significant tropical cyclone rainfall event since reliable records began in the 1880s.
Aug 27, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
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Image: Courtesy NOAA
File: Hurricane Ida Threatens 941,392 Homes with Storm Surge