Hurricanes Helene and Milton: costs and impacts

AUDREY HESTER
STAFF WRITER

10/28/2024

Over the past month, the United States has seen two large and notable hurricanes hit its southeastern shores. Hurricane Helene, which hit ground in Florida on Sep. 26, and Hurricane Milton, which also hit Florida on Oct. 9. They are the second and third hurricanes to hit Florida this year. 

Since 1871, there have only been five years where three hurricanes have struck Florida, and there has not been a year on record where more than three have struck, putting 2024 up on the leaderboard. 

Florida is hundreds of miles away from Alma, MI, but the impact of these hurricanes is felt nationwide. Regardless of whether or not someone lives in the path of a hurricane, they will feel its repercussions. 

“There is no question [that] any extreme weather event affects everyone in the U.S. One way is that we, as a country, do not have the resources available to handle events like Helene and Milton. Both financially and physically,” said Professor Murray Borrello, Senior Instructor of Geology/Environmental Studies at Alma, as well as the Director of the Great Lakes Watershed Institute.  

“So, when millions of people are without power, the call goes out across the country to bring in electrical line workers, infrastructure experts, even police protection,” said Borello. 

“One year, Alma’s Consumers Energy personnel were called to a region impacted by heavy rains and flooding in New York and other parts of the East Coast,” said Borrello. Even though neither Helene nor Milton is striking Alma directly, its citizens are still affected by the greater impact of these natural disasters. 

Additionally, the cost—both in money and labor—to rebuild and recover after disasters like these is extremely, frighteningly high. 

“The cost of repairing damages must be made up somehow—through taxes, or increased costs of products that we use […] such as lumber, gasoline, and everyday items. This is felt across the board—even in areas not affected by the weather events,” said Borrello. Everyone across the United States, including Alma College students, will potentially feel the monetary impacts of the destruction these hurricanes wreak on our coasts. 

Stronger, more frequent storms like these are also a sign of the planet’s growing climate crisis. Helene and Milton—category 4 and 3 hurricanes, respectively—struck within weeks of one another. Climate change is affecting the weather and making it more severe, and that is something that will impact everyone, no matter where they live. 

“We all have a responsibility to hold those who are in office responsible for implementing strategies that help us prepare for these events. […] It costs much less to proactively make your infrastructure (communities) resilient (able to withstand climate-related weather events) than to attempt to clean up from these events. This keeps taxes lower, prevents shortages of potentially critical goods, and prevents loss of life,” said Borrello. 

With an election approaching, there are a lot of issues to keep in mind when choosing a candidate, whether at the federal or local level. Amid everything else going on in our country, it is important to remember that the climate is shifting, and storms like Helene and Milton are only going to continue occurring, affecting not only the places they hit, but also locations on a national or even global scale.