South Carolina Forestry Commission Issues Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Helene Damage
Hurricane Helene Damage Assessment: $194 Million
On Friday, the South Carolina Forestry Commission released its preliminary assessment of damage to forests caused by Hurricane Helene.
According to the Commission, personnel conducted flights to assess damage to forests. These flights, which began on September 28th, located over 850 areas with timber damage. Agency foresters conducted ground checks to validate the data collected through these flights and to determine the volume loss associated with each damage category.
The counties with the heaviest losses in terms of value were Edgefield, Spartanburg, Pickens, McCormick, and Aiken. The total timber damage was estimated to be $83 million across a 20-county area. This value is strictly timber value and does not include damage to infrastructure, which is substantial but not quantified.
Forest Industry Impact
Commission staff surveyed a subset of the forest industry to determine the impacts of the storm on their operational capacity, facilities, and wood resources as well as how the mills have been able to respond in the removal and utilization of storm-damaged wood. Survey results showed that the average number of days of production lost was 2.5, although none of those who responded indicated that their facility suffered direct damage from the hurricane.
To determine the economic impact of Hurricane Helene on South Carolina’s forest products industry, the Commission used proxy measures for lost operational time compared to the most recent economic impact analysis available. With an average of 2.5 days of lost operational time, the Commission estimated that this accounted for roughly 1% of annual mill output, which translates to approximately $51 million including direct, indirect, and induced impact. Of this amount, $32.4 million was estimated to be direct impact.
The Commission notes that all the figures mentioned above are preliminary and will be updated as more accurate data becomes available. A full damage assessment report is forthcoming.
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