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			<span class="kicker">THE $IZE OF THE HIT</span>
		<h1 itemprop="headline">How Hurricane Maria will be more costly for Puerto Rico than Harvey was for Texas</h1>	<div class="item-meta-mobile"><div class="byline item-meta-row">
	<h5>Written by</h5>

	
		
			
			<a href="https://qz.com/author/acampoyqz/" class="author-name" data-index="0" itemprop="author">Ana Campoy</a>

			
			
			
		
		
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			<span class="timestamp" itemprop="datePublished">September 27, 2017</span>
	
	
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			<i class="icon-camera"></i>Maria’s estimated damage amounts to $10,000 for each Puerto Rican.							<span class="featured-image-credit has-space"> (Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)</span>
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			<a href="https://qz.com/author/acampoyqz/" class="author-name" data-index="0" itemprop="author">Ana Campoy</a>

			
			
			
		
		
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			<span class="timestamp" itemprop="datePublished">September 27, 2017</span>
	
	
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<p>Hurricane Maria was somewhat less of a weather monster than the two big storms that preceded it. Harvey dumped <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/29/16221542/hurricane-harvey-rainfall-record-houston">record amounts</a> of rain over parts of Texas, and Irma&rsquo;s tropical-storm force winds covered an <a href="http://time.com/4947710/hurricane-maria-how-big-size/">area wider</a> than the Florida peninsula.</p>
<p>In Puerto Rico, Maria&rsquo;s devastation has been multiplied by the island&rsquo;s more limited ability to absorb it.</p>
<p>In dollars, the damage from Maria will likely be much smaller than that of Harvey or Irma, according to estimates by Enki Research, a nonprofit group that tracks natural disasters. (The estimate for Irma only includes damage in the US mainland.)</p>
<div class="atlas-chart" data-id="r1_aVBtjb" data-width="640" data-height="449"><img src="https://www.theatlas.com/i/atlas_r1_aVBtjb.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></div>
<p>However, the scale of Maria&rsquo;s destruction grows when you look at it the context of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s geographic size. Despite their brutality, Harvey and Irma left swaths of Texas and Florida largely unscathed. In contrast, the bulk of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s smaller territory was heavily hit by Maria. A big portion of the population remained <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/09/27/553917909/no-electricity-means-no-clean-water-for-many-in-puerto-rico">without power</a>, or <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/352529-pentagon-more-than-80-percent-of-puerto-ricos-electric-system">drinking water</a> days after the storm made landfall.</p>
<div class="inline-ad" id="inline-1088762-1"></div><p>Relative to the size of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s economy, Maria&rsquo;s damage is also much larger than the other two hurricanes. Enki doesn&rsquo;t break down figures by state. But even when considering the total US damages from Harvey, which spread beyond Texas, the amount would account for roughly 5% of the state&rsquo;s gross domestic product, based on Enki&rsquo;s figures. The destruction from Irma, which spilled to other coastal states in the US mainland, is equivalent to around 6% of Florida&rsquo;s GDP. Maria&rsquo;s projected cost in Puerto Rico, which Enki calculated just for the island, is roughly a third of its economy.</p>
<p>The task of rebuilding Puerto Rico is even more daunting considering the fragile state of its economy, which has been hollowed by a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/business/dealbook/puerto-rico-debt-bankruptcy.html?mcubz=0&amp;_r=0">debt crisis</a> and the <a href="http://www.estadisticas.gobierno.pr/iepr/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=rHqe4GNz7Lc%3d&amp;tabid=105&amp;mid=590">exodus</a> (link in Spanish) of Puerto Ricans to the mainland. Divided among fewer residents, the costs of the damage are considerably higher than in Texas and Florida. Again, using Enki&rsquo;s total continental US damage figures for Harvey and Irma, the per capita cost comes to about $3,000 for Texans and Floridians, respectively. For Puerto Rico, Maria&rsquo;s per capita cost is roughly $10,000.</p>
<p>Puerto Rico is going to need some serious help from Washington to cover that price tag.</p>
<hr><p><strong>Read next: <a href="https://qz.com/1088629/puerto-rico-hurricane-what-trump-got-right-about-relief-efforts-after-maria/?utm_source=readnext">What Trump has gotten right about Puerto Rico</a></strong></p>
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	QZ.bootstrap = {"https:\/\/qz.com\/api\/article\/1088762\/":{"version":3,"header":{"name":"Article","path":"article\/1088762\/","slug":"article","type":"article"},"items":[{"id":1088762,"title":"How Hurricane Maria will be more costly for Puerto Rico than Harvey was for Texas","slug":"puerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost","permalink":"https:\/\/qz.com\/1088762\/puerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost\/","date":{"published":"2017-09-27 22:01:03","updated":"2017-09-27 22:01:03","pretty":"September 27, 2017"},"postType":"article","summary":"Hurricane Maria was somewhat less of a weather monster than the two big storms that preceded it. Harvey dumped record amounts of rain over parts&hellip;","inlineAds":["inline-1088762-1"],"content":"\n<p>Hurricane Maria was somewhat less of a weather monster than the two big storms that preceded it. Harvey dumped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/science-and-health\/2017\/8\/29\/16221542\/hurricane-harvey-rainfall-record-houston\">record amounts<\/a> of rain over parts of Texas, and Irma&rsquo;s tropical-storm force winds covered an <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/4947710\/hurricane-maria-how-big-size\/\">area wider<\/a> than the Florida peninsula.<\/p>\n<p>In Puerto Rico, Maria&rsquo;s devastation has been multiplied by the island&rsquo;s more limited ability to absorb it.<\/p>\n<p>In dollars, the damage from Maria will likely be much smaller than that of Harvey or Irma, according to estimates by Enki Research, a nonprofit group that tracks natural disasters. (The estimate for Irma only includes damage in the US mainland.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"atlas-chart\" data-id=\"r1_aVBtjb\" data-width=\"640\" data-height=\"449\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.theatlas.com\/i\/atlas_r1_aVBtjb.png\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<p>However, the scale of Maria&rsquo;s destruction grows when you look at it the context of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s geographic size. Despite their brutality, Harvey and Irma left swaths of Texas and Florida largely unscathed. In contrast, the bulk of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s smaller territory was heavily hit by Maria. A big portion of the population remained <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2017\/09\/27\/553917909\/no-electricity-means-no-clean-water-for-many-in-puerto-rico\">without power<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/352529-pentagon-more-than-80-percent-of-puerto-ricos-electric-system\">drinking water<\/a> days after the storm made landfall.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inline-ad\" id=\"inline-1088762-1\"><\/div><p>Relative to the size of Puerto Rico&rsquo;s economy, Maria&rsquo;s damage is also much larger than the other two hurricanes. Enki doesn&rsquo;t break down figures by state. But even when considering the total US damages from Harvey, which spread beyond Texas, the amount would account for roughly 5% of the state&rsquo;s gross domestic product, based on Enki&rsquo;s figures. The destruction from Irma, which spilled to other coastal states in the US mainland, is equivalent to around 6% of Florida&rsquo;s GDP. Maria&rsquo;s projected cost in Puerto Rico, which Enki calculated just for the island, is roughly a third of its economy.<\/p>\n<p>The task of rebuilding Puerto Rico is even more daunting considering the fragile state of its economy, which has been hollowed by a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2017\/business\/dealbook\/puerto-rico-debt-bankruptcy.html?mcubz=0&amp;_r=0\">debt crisis<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.estadisticas.gobierno.pr\/iepr\/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=rHqe4GNz7Lc%3d&amp;tabid=105&amp;mid=590\">exodus<\/a> (link in Spanish) of Puerto Ricans to the mainland. Divided among fewer residents, the costs of the damage are considerably higher than in Texas and Florida. Again, using Enki&rsquo;s total continental US damage figures for Harvey and Irma, the per capita cost comes to about $3,000 for Texans and Floridians, respectively. For Puerto Rico, Maria&rsquo;s per capita cost is roughly $10,000.<\/p>\n<p>Puerto Rico is going to need some serious help from Washington to cover that price tag.<\/p>\n<hr><p><strong>Read next: <a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1088629\/puerto-rico-hurricane-what-trump-got-right-about-relief-efforts-after-maria\/?utm_source=readnext\">What Trump has gotten right about Puerto Rico<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","hero":{"id":1088787,"alt":"maria damage in puerto rico","caption":"Maria\u2019s estimated damage amounts to $10,000 for each Puerto Rican.","credit":"Reuters\/Carlos Garcia Rawlins","width":3000,"height":1687,"aspectRatio":1.778304682869,"url":"https:\/\/qzprod.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/09\/puerto-rico-maria-destruction-e1506529775951.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=3000","size":"extra-large"},"kicker":"THE $IZE OF THE HIT","seoTitle":"Puerto Rico hurricane: Maria&#039;s devastating economic cost","facebookDescription":"The hurricane\u2019s devastation has been multiplied by the island\u2019s more limited ability to absorb it.","edition":"global","taxonomies":{"obsession":[],"tags":[{"name":"damage assessment","slug":"damage-assessment"},{"name":"damage cost","slug":"damage-cost"},{"name":"enki research","slug":"enki-research"},{"name":"florida","slug":"florida-2"},{"name":"Harvey","slug":"harvey"},{"name":"hurricane damage","slug":"hurricane-damage"},{"name":"hurricane recovery","slug":"hurricane-recovery"},{"name":"hurricane season","slug":"hurricane-season"},{"name":"irma","slug":"irma"},{"name":"maria","slug":"maria"},{"name":"puerto rico","slug":"puerto-rico"},{"name":"puerto rico debt crisis","slug":"puerto-rico-debt-crisis"},{"name":"puerto rico economy","slug":"puerto-rico-economy"},{"name":"puerto rico electric utility","slug":"puerto-rico-electric-utility"},{"name":"puerto rico exodus","slug":"puerto-rico-exodus"},{"name":"rebuilding costs","slug":"rebuilding-costs"},{"name":"Texas","slug":"texas"}],"qz_series":[],"topic":[{"name":"Politics and policy","slug":"politics-and-policy"}]},"byline":{"authors":[{"name":"Ana Campoy","username":"acampoyqz","url":"https:\/\/qz.com\/author\/acampoyqz\/","twitter":"ana_campoy_"}],"type":"author","label":"Written by"},"share":{"twitter":"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2F1088762&text=How%20Hurricane%20Maria%20will%20be%20more%20costly%20for%20Puerto%20Rico%20than%20Harvey%20was%20for%20Texas&via=qz","facebook":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2F1088762%2Fpuerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost%2F&caption=qz.com%20%7C%20By%20Ana%20Campoy","linkedin":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2F1088762%2Fpuerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost%2F&title=How%20Hurricane%20Maria%20will%20be%20more%20costly%20for%20Puerto%20Rico%20than%20Harvey%20was%20for%20Texas&summary=Hurricane%20Maria%20was%20somewhat%20less%20of%20a%20weather%20monster%20than%20the%20two%20big%20storms%20that%20preceded%20it.%20Harvey%20dumped%20record%20amounts%20of%20rain%20over%20parts%E2%80%A6&source=Quartz","email":"mailto:?subject=Quartz%3A%20How%20Hurricane%20Maria%20will%20be%20more%20costly%20for%20Puerto%20Rico%20than%20Harvey%20was%20for%20Texas&body=https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2F1088762%2Fpuerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost%2F%0A%0AHurricane%20Maria%20was%20somewhat%20less%20of%20a%20weather%20monster%20than%20the%20two%20big%20storms%20that%20preceded%20it.%20Harvey%20dumped%20record%20amounts%20of%20rain%20over%20parts%E2%80%A6%0A%0ASign%20up%20for%20the%20Quartz%20Daily%20Brief%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2Fquartzdailybrief.","whatsapp":"whatsapp:\/\/send?text=How%20Hurricane%20Maria%20will%20be%20more%20costly%20for%20Puerto%20Rico%20than%20Harvey%20was%20for%20Texas%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2F1088762%2Fpuerto-rico-hurricane-marias-devastating-economic-cost%2F"},"peer39":[9436,9736,22979,1908,32893,2735,9521,9506,9504,9522,9519,9507,9505,9671,9672,9656,9367,9606,9597,9369,4004,9391,9392,22057,19680,18899]}]}};
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