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‘Give Me A Break’: DeSantis Scoffs At Wall Street Analysts’ Estimate That Storm Damages Will Amount To $50 Billion

[Screenshot/Fox News]

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis scoffed at a reporter Thursday asking about Wall Street analysts’ estimates that Hurricane Milton’s damages will amount to over $50 billion.

Yaron Kinar, an analyst with Jeffries equity, estimated that the damage caused by Hurricane Milton could cost more than $50 billion, with the potential to leave behind $175 billion in damages, according to CNBC. DeSantis said it is too early to pinpoint the cost of damages, but stated that the storm surge did not reach the same levels as Hurricane Helene.

“How the hell would a Wall Street analyst be able to know? It’s been dark all day, what, you’re just gonna know what you’re gonna do? I mean, like, give me a break with some of this stuff,” DeSantis told a reporter. “They’re doing damage assessments now, they always say this or that, or whatever. I mean, what I would say is what I said in the original talkers, we had certain worst case scenarios in terms of going into Tampa Bay, a lot of places in Pinellas County, they had negative storm surge because it sucked the water out of the bay. So, in terms of all that, where you’d see the entire Tampa Bay area underwater, that did not happen.”

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The Florida governor predicted that the damage from the storm will likely not reach the levels seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in 2022, which left behind more than $50 billion in damages, according to CNBC. The damage caused by Hurricane Helene, which reached landfall in late September, could have caused up to $47 billion in losses for property owners, according to CNN.

“But in terms of just, right now, the morning after, if I think back to, like, Hurricane Ian, I don’t think that you’re looking at a similar amount of damage to Ian. And then with Helene, there may end up being more overall damage. There may not, I don’t know. But definitely the surge did not reach Helene levels … So we’ll see, there will be a lot more that will need to be done to assess the extent of the damage, but what I can say is we have a lot of resources in play here in Florida to be able to mitigate and get people back on their feet and get that state moving again,” DeSantis continued.

Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, Wednesday night causing mass flooding and power outages for over 3 million residents. The hurricane, which dropped from a Category 4 to Category 3 storm right before landfall, had 120 mph sustained winds and high gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The rooftop of the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg flew off as a result of the strong winds.

At least ten people have been confirmed dead in the storm’s aftermath, with 5 being confirmed in St. Lucie County on the Atlantic coast, according to NBC News.