Hurricanes that don't hit New England still cost us. | Starting Point

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As hurricanes go, Erin was, at worst, a glancing blow.

The storm became a Category 5 behemoth Aug. 16, lashed Puerto Rico, and churned up the Eastern seaboard. But by Friday, it had slowed into a post-tropical cyclone before moving out to sea, leaving behind dangerous surf but little damage.

When it comes to hurricanes, New England has been pretty fortunate. They often intensify in the Caribbean and peter out as they move north. A hurricane hasn’t made landfall up here since Bob in 1991.

But that doesn’t mean the storms are simply passing New England by. “Hurricanes, even if it’s not directly falling here, certainly do impact us,” said Ali Hiple, a senior policy analyst with the Conservation Law Foundation, a nonprofit that works on climate resilience and other issues in the region. “As we’re experiencing intensifying storms because of climate change, those impacts might be more intense.”

Here’s how New England still bears the material, human, and financial costs even of the hurricanes that largely miss us.

Hurricane winds are strongest near the center of the storm, but the rain and high surf they produce can inundate communities hundreds of miles away.

Erin is an example. Even as the storm remained off the Carolinas last week, it triggered rip currents and coastal flood warnings in Massachusetts. Adjusted for inflation, the rainfall, winds, and storm surge from Hurricane Sandy in 2012 caused half a billion dollars in damage to New England, even though the storm hit the US hundreds of miles farther south.

Flooding often does the most damage to homes and buildings, and climate change is making it worse. Warmer air lets hurricanes carry and dump more moisture as rain, warmer oceans help them strengthen rapidly, and rising sea levels worsen storm surges. Relatively minor flooding can also destroy possessions and allow dangerous mold to grow. “Even a couple inches of groundwater seeping into a house can be pretty disastrous,” Hiple said.

The water isn’t coming just from hurricanes. Last month, torrential rain flooded Interstate 93 and closed part of the MBTA’s Red Line. In recent decades, climate change has made extreme rain heavier and more common in the Northeast.

Storms, of course, take a human toll as well. Hurricane Maria, which left much of Puerto Rico without power for months in 2017, killed nearly 3,000 people there. Katrina, which made landfall in Louisiana 20 years ago this week, killed more than 1,000, many from drowning. Sandy killed over 150 — including five in New England.

All that damage costs money. For businesses and households, hurricanes can mean unexpected repair bills and moves, higher insurance premiums, and lost revenue. And because the federal government often shoulders much of the cost of restoring storm-damaged communities, New England taxpayers effectively help pay for hurricanes and other climate-related disasters that mostly affect other parts of the country.

The number of extreme weather events that cause more than $1 billion in damage has sharply risen in recent decades. A big part of the reason lies in southern states like Florida and Texas, where hurricanes tend to hit hardest and waterfront development has put more buildings in harm’s way. And when costs hit a certain amount, the federal government tends to step in, draining recovery assistance intended for the whole country and sometimes requesting more money from Congress. Those appropriations increase the national debt and crowd out other spending priorities.

That could soon change, though. The Trump administration is considering lifting the threshold for damage that qualifies for federal assistance, shifting costs onto states and localities. Had the higher threshold been in effect, one study found, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts would have lost most of the federal disaster aid they’ve received since 2008. Maine would have lost all of it.

Another change could deepen the cost problem. The administration has moved to suspend a Biden-era rule that required flood-damaged buildings to be rebuilt with climate resilience in mind to qualify for federal money. The rule was an attempt to cap the cost of future storms by preventing vulnerable structures from being repeatedly damaged and rebuilt on the public’s dime.

Taken together, these changes could bring about the worst of both worlds. When the next big hurricane strikes New England, the rest of the country may not be there to help — even as the costs of extreme weather mount.

🧩 6 Across: Disney mermaid | 🌥️ 81° Moist and muggy

Rhode Island vs. Trump: State officials criticized the administration for stopping construction on a mostly finished offshore wind farm, vowing to try to reverse the decision.

Grand theft cycle: Bike thefts in Boston spike in the summer, although they’ve been lower than average so far this year. These maps show the hotspots to watch out for.

Caribbean culture: Thousands celebrated during the annual J’Ouvert parade in Franklin Park. Trucks blasted soca, calypso, and steel-pan music as revelers danced and flung colorful paints and powder.

Marine Week: Boston commemorated the 250th birthday of the US Marine Corps with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and vehicle showcase on Boston Common. See photos from the event.

Wave the white flag: Among the designs for a new Massachusetts state flag that commissioners have eliminated so far are a surfing cartoon seal, a patriotic lobster, and lots of Dunkin’.

‘Send in the troops’: Trump, feuding with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, threatened to revoke federal funding to replace a collapsed Baltimore bridge and to send troops to the city. (Baltimore Banner) Meanwhile, National Guard troops Trump deployed in Washington, D.C. are now armed. (WashPost 🎁)

Kilmar Abrego Garcia: The Salvadoran man the Trump administration mistakenly deported earlier this year was released from a Tennessee jail on Friday. But the administration is trying to deport him to Uganda after he declined a plea deal on human smuggling charges. (AP)

Trump vs. higher ed: Harvard, Brown, and other elite universities face a challenge: Maintaining a diverse student body while proving to the administration that they aren’t considering race or sex in admissions.

AskRoxie: As colleges confront financial challenges, some — like Roxbury Community College — are embracing artificial intelligence to answer students’ questions, crunch data, and more.

Russia-Ukraine war: On Ukraine’s Independence Day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country wouldn’t be “forced into compromise” in peace talks and the two countries exchanged prisoners. (Kyiv Independent)

By Teresa Hanafin

🗓️ Free events: Shakespeare in film and on stage, jazz in Southie, a puppet show on the Common, and more no-cost things to do in Greater Boston this week.

🏋🏼‍♀️ Full circle: Desperately seeking a miracle exercise as a middle-aged woman, Beth Teitell flirted with a weighted vest, pickleball, and Pilates. And ended up where she began: Walking.

👶🏼 Baby care advice: It’s changed a lot over the years. Here are five of the biggest changes, from safe sleep practices to umbilical cord care to trauma. (CNN)

👨 Be a dad, not a dud: Speaking of babies, there’s likely a really simple answer to the issue of declining birthrates around the world: Men should step up. (Axios)

🌊 Island life: Former Pats coach Bill Belichick is selling one of his Nantucket houses for a cool $3.895 million. It’s a 1,500-square foot oceanfront cottage with two bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and “BB is a lousy lover -LH” graffiti in the outdoor shower.

👃 Smellmaxxing: The global fragrance market is bigger than ever, thanks to a Gen Z perfume boom, PerfumeTok, and … teenage boys? (Guardian)

🧌 Troll Trail: Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo has added three giant troll sculptures in Rhode Island. Now there are five, giving this little state a big troll presence.

Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin.

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Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at ian.philbrick@globe.com.