Press Releases

Research Triangle Park, NC, Sunday August 28, 2011 ─ On Saturday, August 27, 2011, Hurricane Irene struck the eastern seaboard of the United States, starting as a Category 3 hurricane (with winds up to 130 miles per hour), but remained a Category 1 hurricane (with winds up to 95 mph) for much of its northward path, and Sunday morning was downgraded to a tropical storm.

IEM estimates a total economic impact of between $2.2 billion and $2.6 billion, distributed according to table below. These estimates account for expected damage associated with storm winds, storm surge and flooding, and represent the expected replacement and repair costs of damaged property and normal business interruption losses (e.g., they do not include potential losses associated with closing stock markets). Maps and discussion are available on IEM blog.

Though this storm will touch over 28 million people, we estimate a relatively small amount of sheltering requirements. The strength of the winds will not likely cause as much damage as the resulting flooding, and this will depend on many factors (e.g. coastal development, soil saturation, flood control capacity, length and depth of rivers and tributaries).

Economic Loss Estimates

* Major cities are separate from counties, except New York City which has a number of counties.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Lloyd Blanchard at 703-414-8141, or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To see more economic analysis studies IEM has completed, please see the IEM blog.