Cedric Stephens | The uncountable mental toll of natural disasters

As was expected, the government’s provisional estimate of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa has increased. In one instance, the numbers climbed from a base of US$6-7 billion to US$8.8 billion. In the other, a newspaper editorial reported an increase to US$10 billion. The revised US$8.8 billion estimate related to physical damage, as opposed to economic losses. The latter includes loss of sales, tourism receipts, and the like, and are higher than the former. The former implies loss or damage to things like buildings, and infrastructure, such as roads.