NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Hurricanes can be a double-edged sword – we're learning the lesson this week in North Carolina with Florence.
History teaches us that while there is devastation and death, there is also a resurrection and rebuilding after storms too.
"Hurricanes are some of the most studied phenomenon ever, and what happens is there's an enormous amount of damage; there is an immediate dip to the economy in that area. But then the rebuilding begins," Greg David of Crain's told WCBS 880's Paul Murnane Monday morning. "There's this inflow of often billions of dollars in insurance money; billions of dollars in federal aid, and the economies pick up."
That is exactly what happened in Texas after Hurricane Harvey last year, David explained.
"One of the most interesting things that happened in Texas is that so many cars were destroyed that the automakers had a big bump in sales in the next few months," he said. "So there is an immediate hit to the local economy, and then there is the rebuilding effort in most cases."
David also emphasized that while North Carolina is an important state, it only represents a small piece of the national economy – and it is rare that a hurricane has an impact on the national economy. But there are some notable exceptions.
"Hurricane Katrina did so much damage in New Orleans that New Orleans still has not recovered by some measures. And despite what President Trump says, there's just little doubt that Hurricane Maria has delivered a devastating blow to Puerto Rico, and it too is not recovering. In both those cases, the hurricanes were such a big force for the entire area," David said. "You know, Katrina almost wiped out most of New Orleans, and Hurricane Maria has hurt the entire island of Puerto Rico, so there are some exceptions."
