The economic cost of Hurricane Irma could rise as high as $300bn (£227bn) as the storm lashes Florida, damaging homes, businesses and key crops including orange groves. Analysts said about $2tn of property lay in the storm’s path, and also pointed to the potential impact on US food prices. Florida is the second-largest produce grower in the US and the world’s second-largest producer of orange juice. Torsten Jeworrek, a member of the board of the German reinsurance giant Munich Re, said on Sunday that Irma was “a major event for Florida and also a major event for the insurance industry”. The hurricane has already ... (full story)