By Elsa Ohlen
Hurricane Milton swept in over Florida's west coast late Wednesday, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and life-threatening conditions to a region still recovering from Hurricane Helene.
The storm hit near Siesta Key, Fla., in Sarasota County around 8:30 p.m. Eastern time as a Category 3 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said. Tampa Bay was spared a direct hit, easing some fears of catastrophic damage there.
By early Thursday, Milton had weakened to a Category 1 storm. It was moving toward the east coast of Florida, according to the latest information from the National Hurricane Center.
Earlier this week, analysts warned that the storm could cause $175 billion in losses if Milton hit the densely populated Tampa area. Millions of Floridians had been urged to evacuate before the powerful storm made landfall.
The extent of deaths caused by Milton was still unclear. The St. Lucie County sheriff said there were multiple fatalities in the county in a tornado outbreak, WPTV reported.
Almost 3 million people in Florida were without power early Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us, the Wall Street Journal reported. Makers of power generators often gain in anticipation of adverse weather events. Generac saw its stock spike on Monday, but shares were down about 2% in the premarket Thursday.
Insurance was a sector that was hit hard earlier this week in anticipation of Milton making landfall. Reinsurers such as RenaissanceRe Holding, Everest Group and Arch Capital Group, which provide insurance to primary insurance companies, plummeted Monday. The stocks all gained Wednesday and were up modestly in the premarket session Thursday as early indicators Milton didn't cause as widespread destruction as some had feared.
While reinsurers stand to take some of the largest losses from Milton, primary-insurance stocks also were affected. Allstate, Progressive, and Chubb also looked to be clawing back some losses after starting the week in the red.
Oil prices rose early Thursday with West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, up 1.2% to $74.14 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.2% to $77.43 a barrel. Concerns that Hurricane Milton could cause supply disruptions in the U.S. and increased gasoline demand in Florida likely were driving prices higher.
Tampa, Fort Myers, and Orlando airports have ceased operations due to the storm, according to their websites, which will affect airlines' bottom line, Citi analysts said Monday.
The big four carriers -- Delta, United, American, and Southwest -- have important exposure to Tampa's international airport, Citi noted.
Theme park closures were reported by Walt Disney, Universal, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens.
Raymond James analyst Ric Prentiss expects the Disney's experiences segment to see a "noticeable impact" in the coming two quarters, noting "headline pressure in an already uncertain time for the parks."
Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 10, 2024 05:48 ET (09:48 GMT)
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