Workers secure plywood to business exteriors ahead of Hurricane Florence in Wilmington, North Carolina. Besides millions of residents affected by winds and flooding, the markets are also anticipating a hit. (Photo: Charles Mostoller/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) –The punch packed by Hurricane Florence is already rattling markets from stocks to bonds.

The massive storm — which is forcing more than 1 million people to flee and could wreak as much as $27 billion in damages as it cuts a path through the states of Georgia and the Carolinas — has struck insurance companies' shares and funds holding catastrophe bonds as investors try to get ahead of the potential disaster.

“Investor focus appears to be turning more and more to hurricane Florence and the damage and disruption it might create,” UniCredit Bank analyst Erik Nielsen, the firm's global chief economist, wrote in a note.