US – Estimated cost of Sandy???s destruction
The economic toll from the vast storm Sandy on the US East Coast is expected to be massive, with billions of dollars in damages. Eceqat predicted that the toll could hit USD 20 billion, with perhaps half of that amount covered by insurance. Sandy spawned widespread flooding and wind damage – especially in the northeastern state of New Jersey and New York City – before moving inland and weakening on Tuesday.
Large industrial manufacturers and oil refiners shut their operations all along the country’s eastern seaboard. Hundreds of small businesses are inundated with floodwaters.
Some analysts said that the the storm’s economic impact could diminish the country’s already sluggish economic growth, perhaps subtracting a tenth or two-tenths of a percentage point from the US economy in the last three months of the year. But other economists said that the losses would be offset as communities affected by the storm spend large sums to fix their roads and other infrastructure and manufacturers repair their facilities.
While the damage from Sandy is substantial, it is pale in comparison to Hurricane Katrina, the monster 2005 storm that hit the southern US shoreline near New Orleans. It caused USD 108 billion in damage and killed 1,200 people.
