Matthew may rank as one of costliest US storms

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A downed tree from high winds rests against the side of a home in residential community after Hurricane Matthew passes through on October 7, 2016 in Ormond Beach, Florida.

It will be months before the full impact is known, but Hurricane Matthew already inflicted major loss of life and property before it roared up Florida's east coast Friday.

The storm weakened to Category 3 overnight, but still packed heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 120 mph Friday as it bore down on northern Florida.

Before reaching the U.S., Matthew had already claimed more than 280 lives in the Caribbean as it battered Haiti, ripped through Cuba and roared over the Bahamas. As many as 2 million Floridians sought shelter. President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration for the state, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott activated 3,500 members of the National Guard.

The last storm that was Category 3 or higher to hit the U.S. was Wilma in October 2005. It sliced across Florida with 120 mph wind, killing five people and causing an estimated $21 billion in damage.

It's a costly burden Florida has borne many times over the decades. But that cost has risen in recent years, all along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard, as a growing population and coastal development have put more people and property in harm's way.

In Florida alone, the federal flood insurance program has paid out nearly $3.9 billion for nearly a quarter million individual claims in the last 40 years. Among the hardest hit communities, Pensacola Beach has suffered $194 million in covered damage, and Key West has seen $174 million worth of property washed away. The combined losses for the city and counties of greater Miami top $480 million.

Those figures only represent losses covered by federal flood insurance. Much additional damage is covered by private insurance — or not covered at all.

It's too early to know the full scope of Hurricane Matthew's impact, but the storm's strength fits a recent pattern of fewer, more intense Atlantic storms in the early fall.

Measured by FEMA-covered losses, just two storms in the last four decades — Katrina in 2005 and Sandy in 2012 — accounted for more than half the total losses. The next three — Ike in 2008, Ivan in 2004 and Irene in 2011 — all occurred within the last 15 years. Hurricane Andrew, the 1992 Category 5 monster that hit Florida twice, ranks much further down on the list of FEMA-covered losses because much of the damages were handled by private insurance or not at all.

Based on the FEMA loss data, it also appears that the timing of the worst storms has shortened the hurricane season, which has traditionally stretched from June through November.

Most of the worst Atlantic storms hammering the U.S coast in the last two decades have arrived in September and October.