Hurricane Sandy Threatens $20 Billion in Economic Damage

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Hurricane Sandy may cause as much as $20 billion in economic damage and losses as the biggest Atlantic storm floods homes, disrupts millions of fliers, and forces retailers to close stores.

Insured losses may reach $5 billion to $10 billion, or about half of the total, according to the estimates today by Eqecat Inc., an Oakland, California-based provider of catastrophic risk models.

Sandy spans 900 miles and is strengthening as it makes landfall near Cape May, New Jersey. The storm may unleash life- threatening surges from Virginia to Massachusetts, reaching almost 12 feet (3.7 meters) in lower Manhattan. U.S. airlines have grounded about 12,500 flights, stranding travelers, and U.S. stock trading is closed through tomorrow in the first back- to-back shutdowns for weather since 1888.

.....(snip).....

Fourth-Quarter Estimates

Hurricane Sandy ultimately may subtract 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points from U.S. gross domestic product in the fourth quarter as spending drops on services such as restaurant meals, according to Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina. The economy, with annualized GDP of $13.6 trillion, expanded at a 2 percent pace in the third quarter.

“There’s a loss of activity that’s going to be hard to make up,” Vitner said. “If you’re a restaurant and you’re closed today, people are not going to eat two lunches tomorrow.” .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-29/hurricane-sandy-threatens-20-billion-in-u-s-economic-damage.html

[Historic NY]

1. Romney will be there handing out water with his bus....