Hurricane Harvey's historic flooding in Texas is set to wreak havoc on the auto industry and its insurers with analysts now predicting the storm could damage more vehicles than Hurricane Katrina. In August 2005, Katrina wiped out some 500,000-600,000 vehicles but William Armstrong of CL King warns that Houston has about 5x more people than New Orleans did at the time.
Amid desperate efforts to save stranded citizens - police report over 3,000 rescues alone - and the arrival of the so-called 'cajun navy' to assist, Harvey continues to pummel Texas, paralyzing Houston as the region braces for yet more rain after the Tropical Storm recharged over warm waters and heading back in-land.
Hurricane Harvey has unleashed unparalleled devastation on southwest Texas, flooding Houston, the fourth largest city in the US, and many towns along the Gulf coast from Galveston, to Port Lavaca and beyond. But even Harvey’s 130 mph winds aren’t strong enough to threaten the ironclad balance sheets of America’s largest insurers, which have amassed a “fatter-than-ever” capital cushion capable of absorbing any payouts related to what looks to be, by several measures, one of the worst hurricane in US history, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Moments ago, in response to the devastation from hurricane Harvey, Texas Governor Abbott announced he is activating the entire Texas National Guard, bringing the total number of deployed guardsman to roughly 12,000. These National Guardsman will assist in the ongoing search and rescue effort for any Texans in immediate danger, and will be heavily involved in the extensive recovery effort in the aftermath of the storm.
In response to the historic flooding in Texas, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (i.e. FEMA) was quoted by CNN saying that his agency is gearing up for a years-long effort to help the recovery from the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey. "FEMA is going to be there for years," administrator Brock Long said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." He said that "this disaster is going to be a landmark event."
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