According to statistics issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) on Friday, the clean-up bill could be without precedent. Nate has a “reasonable” chance of turning into a $1bn-plus weather event, Noaa climatologist Adam Smith told the Guardian via email. The frequency of hugely expensive weather disasters is increasing. The taxpayer shouldered less than 10% of the cost of Hurricane Diane in 1955 and a quarter of the cost of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, according to Michel-Kerjan. That rose to 50% of the cost of Katrina in 2005 and 80% of the cost of superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Source: The Guardian October 07, 2017 18:45 UTC