Hurricane Helene devastated a huge swath of the Southeast two weeks ago, leaving hundreds of people dead and causing billions of dollars in damage.

The storm made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane, but much of the destruction came from severe flooding in western North Carolina. Helene has claimed the lives of more than 200 people, with hundreds still missing, according to NBC News. And as of Friday morning, economic loss estimates varied in the range of tens of billions to the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Moody’s Analytics estimated the recovery costs from Helene “upwards of $34 billion,” according to CNBC. Similarly, Steve Bowen, chief science officer of reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, told Axios he estimates the economic losses at “about $35 billion.”

Catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. (KCC) estimated the privately insured loss “will be close to $6.4 billion from wind, storm surge, and inland flooding across nine states.” The estimate accounts for losses to residential and commercial properties and vehicles, as well as business interruption, but excludes losses covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Helene was different from typical Category 4 storms in that “most of the damage occurred far from the landfall point,” KCC noted in its estimate report.

For more on potential costs from Hurricane Helene, click here.—AZ

If your business has been harmed by Hurricane Helene, the Internal Revenue Service wants you to know that you may have extra time to file your tax returns and make payments—up to six months, depending on the type or return or payment and where you’re located.

People and businesses across “Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and [in] parts of Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia” will be able to file their returns and make payments until May 1, 2025, the agency said in a press release.

If you’re in one of the states with partial eligibility, whether you qualify depends on whether the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has designated your community a federally declared disaster area. More areas have been designated as disaster areas since the IRS’s Oct. 1 news release, so check whether your area qualifies at the IRS state tax relief directory and the FEMA list of declarations.

What qualifies. The May 1 deadline covers 2024 tax returns that would have been due in March or April 2025, as well as quarterly returns for payroll and excise tax that were due on Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31 and April 30, 2025. Quarterly estimated income tax payments due on Jan. 15 and April 15, 2025, also qualify. If your business had a valid extension for a 2023 tax return, that also qualifies for the relief period. “Payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time,” the IRS said, however, “because they were due last spring before the hurricane occurred.”

Click here for more on Helene-related tax filing extensions.—GD

Even an Addison Rae banger couldn’t help PepsiCo this quarter.

PepsiCo cut its full-year organic revenue guidance as consumers reduced their spending on drinks and snacks, and the company posted “its second straight quarter of weaker-than-expected sales,” CNBC reported.

The Purchase, New York-based company said its Q3 performance was impacted by “subdued” US demand, the Quaker Foods recalls in North America, and “business disruptions due to rising geopolitical tensions in certain international markets.”

Pepsi now anticipates organic revenue growth in the low single digits, below its previously forecast growth of 4%. In Q3, organic revenue rose 1.3%. Revenue came in at $23.3 billion, lower than the $23.8 billion LSEG analysts expected, according to CNBC.

It’s becoming clear that would-be PepsiCo consumers are increasingly value-conscious: After raising prices every quarter for over two years, in Q3 the company noted demand for snack purchases was “subdued.”

“In the US, there is clearly a consumer that is more challenged,” chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said during the company’s Q2 earnings call. “They want more value to stay with our brands.”

Click here to continue reading.—NP