posted on Thursday, December 13, 2018
The Alabama Hurricane Michael was a Category 4 storm that made landfall on October 10, 2018. Due to 155 miles per hour winds, Hurricane Michael was the strongest hurricane to hit the continental United States since 2004. Eight counties in southeastern Alabama were specifically impacted; Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, and Russell. The Decision Innovation Solution research staff conducted an economic impact analysis and concluded that the total economic impact on the agriculture industry from all eight counties totaled a loss of $204,402,937. You will find the county breakdown and map in Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Furthermore, there is a detailed analysis about how each county was individually affected. Overall, the commodity that was impacted the most was cotton with a loss of $107,746,098 and specifically, Houston County makes up about 43% of that total cotton loss. Behind cotton was livestock at a loss of $24,518,050, where Houston County also makes up a significant amount of that loss at 35%. Not only were the sales of commodities and infrastructure affected, but employment and labor income were as well. The direct impact of labor income was a loss of $59,463,889 and an estimate of 1,511 jobs were impacted.
Along with Figure 1, each week we have been featuring each of the eight counties on our social media pages. Our posts include how each county has been individually impacted from Hurricane Michael, and the economic loss by commodity. In Figure 2, you will find a post about Coffee County. To view more posts about the eight counties and other recent happenings at DIS, visit our social media channels. Also, to read the full economic analysis about Hurricane Michael, visit the ACES website.
Figure 2.
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