Hurricane Irma may be the most devastating storm in U.S. history, with insured damages more than or equal to those caused by Hurrican Katrina, according to research firm Barclays, CNBC reported.
Irma intensified to become a Category 5 hurricane on Tuesday, Sept. 5, with winds topping 185 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The hurricane became the strongest Atlantic storm ever recorded outside the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, according to the NHC.
“Given the potential magnitude of this storm as well as the potential to impact a highly populated area, we think Irma’s insured damage in Florida could be the largest ever in the US perhaps equivalent to Hurricane Katrina,” wrote Barclays’s Jay Gelb on Tuesday.
NOAA
