AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday as a Category 3 hurricane, and analysts estimate that $1.1 trillion worth of commercial property is set to be exposed to dangerous hurricane winds.
According to an estimate by Moody's Analytics on Tuesday, more than 235,000 commercial real estate properties in Florida — worth $1.1 trillion —have a greater than 50% chance of being exposed to wind speeds of at least 50 miles per hour.
This is the speed at which some property damage is likely, the Moody's report said.
According to the report, the properties include 44,122 industrial spaces, 78,916 retail properties, 42,387 office buildings, 64,857 apartment buildings, and 5,056 hotels.
According to an analysis note by Jefferies, Milton's estimated financial damage in Florida could reach $175 billion.
"While too early to make insured loss estimates, a major hurricane impact in one of Florida's most heavily populated regions could result in mid-double-digit billion dollar loss," Jefferies equity analysts said in a note.
"A 1-in-100 year event is estimated by some to result in $175bn in losses for landfall in the Tampa region, and $70bn in losses in the Ft Myers region," the note added.
The monster storm morphed rapidly into a Category 5 hurricane over two days. But it was downgraded to Category 3 when it made landfall in Florida's Sarasota County on Wednesday.
The National Hurricane Center has warned that the storm could trigger flooding and storm surges as high as 15 feet along the coast.
Milton comes just days after Hurricane Helene ravaged Florida and other southeastern states, leaving more than 200 people dead.
In a report on September 30, Moody's Analytics projected the damage from Helene to be between $20 billion and $34 billion.
