Timber damage volume and dollar impacts from six severe hurricanes affecting selected States in the U.S. Atlantic Basin.

The 2005 hurricane season was the worst, in terms of timber damages, in a generation - much bigger than the largest in the last two decades, Hurricane Hugo (USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis 2005a, 2005b). Hurricane Katrina damaged 1.74 billion cubic feet of timber, and about 41 percent of the volume was hardwood.

	Units	Camille, 19691	Hugo, 19891	Frances, 20042	Ivan, 20042	Katrina, 20051	Rita, 20052
Softwood timber mortality
South Carolina	million ft3		1,008
Florida	million ft3			87	208
Mississippi	million ft3	216				619
Louisiana	million ft3					287	296
Alabama	million ft3				603	126
Texas	million ft3						239
Hardwood timber mortality
South Carolina	million ft3		319
Florida	million ft3			58	94
Mississippi	million ft3	74				426
Louisiana	million ft3					193	177
Alabama	million ft3				414	91
Texas	million ft3						293
Total timber mortality
South Carolina	million ft3		1,327
Florida	million ft3			145	302
Mississippi	million ft3	290				1,044
Louisiana	million ft3					480	473
Alabama	million ft3				1,017	216
Texas	million ft3						532
Total, measured affected States, all species	million ft3	290	1,327	145	1,319	1,740	1,005
Softwood portion of damaged volume	Percentage	74	76	60	61	54	53
Timber value damaged (price × quantity)
Sawtimber value lost	Millions of 2005 dollars	177	494 3	153	2,094	1,600	504
Pulpwood value lost	Millions of 2005 dollars	25	136 3	9	83	113	32
All products	Millions of 2005 dollars	202	630 3	162	2,177	1,713	536
Timber economic surplus
Producer surplus lost, all owners and periods	Millions of 2005 dollars		121 3
Consumer surplus lost, all periods	Millions of 2005 dollars		1,402 3
All market groups	Millions of 2005 dollars		1,523 3

¹Final USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis estimates of volumes of timber mortality. Economic impacts in dollars based on these final estimates.

²Initial USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis estimates of volumes of timber mortality. Economic impacts in dollars based on these initial estimates.

³Dollar values shown for Hurricane Hugo are for softwood timber only.

Sources: Surplus values for Hurricane Hugo are from Prestemon and Holmes (2004); volumes for Camille are from Van Hooser and Hedlund (1969); pine values are from Mississippi Forestry and Agricultural Experiment Station (2006); baldcypress and hardwood values are from and Louisiana Department of Agriculture (1969); volumes for Frances, Ivan, Katrina, and Rita are from USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (2004a, 2004b, 2005a, 2005b), respectively; and values are from Norris Foundation (2005-2006).

Copyright: Public Domain