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Heavy traffic begins to back up on Interstate 275 South as residents evacuate St. Petersburg, Florida, ahead of Hurricane Milton, U.S., October 7, 2024.

Hurricane Milton's once-in-a-century potential could cause damages of more than $50 billion, with the potential to leave behind devastation approaching $175 billion or more in a worst-case scenario, according to leading Wall Street analysts.

That would be on top of the carnage already left behind by Hurricane Helene, posing a potential record-breaking path of wreckage.

"While too early to make insured loss estimates, a major hurricane impact in one of Florida's most heavily populated regions could result in mid-double-digit billion dollar loss," Jefferies equity analyst Yaron Kinar and others said in a note. "A 1-in-100 year event is estimated by some to result in $175 [billion] in losses for landfall in the Tampa region, and $70 [billion] in losses in the [Fort] Myers region."

The extent of the potential is hard to pin down and will depend on timing and location, with a landfall closer to Fort Myers being less costly.

For a historical comparison, analysts need only to look back two years, when Hurricane Ian hit near the Fort Myers area as a Category 4 storm and left behind more than $50 billion in losses. Ian was considered a 1-in-20-year event.

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