Cox Automotive vehicle loss projections
Early look at potential used-car impact from Hurricane Florence
Wednesday September 12, 2018
Article Highlights
- With powerful Hurricane Florence taking a wobbling route toward the Southeast, experts are already considering possible damages — especially to vehicles — in light of the catastrophes created by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in Texas and Florida a year ago.
- ... Cox Automotive projects that at least 20,000 vehicles could be destroyed by Florence, which could strengthen again before crashing into land before the weekend.
- “We’ve taken a look at the potential automotive impact and, thankfully, believe the loss in total will be manageable,” Smoke said in a commentary posted on Tuesday. “While any flooded vehicle is a disaster, we expect Florence to take relatively few in comparison to other hurricanes.”
With powerful Hurricane Florence taking a wobbling route toward the Southeast, experts are already considering possible damages — especially to vehicles — in light of the catastrophes created by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in Texas and Florida a year ago.
The update distributed by the National Hurricane Center late on Wednesday showed how the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia could be impacted by Florence, which boasts winds at nearly 130mph. However, Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke pointed out that the number of vehicles in those locations isn’t as high as the Houston area, which absorbed the greatest amount of rainfall from a single storm ever recorded in the U.S. late last August.
Still, Cox Automotive projects that at least 20,000 vehicles could be destroyed by Florence, which could strengthen again before crashing into land before the weekend.