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...between billion and $60 billion, figure that is substantially higher than any other natural disaster on record. Of that amount, between $15 billion and $25 billion is related to the flooding of New Orleans.
To put those figures into perspective, the previous record for hurricane damages was set by Andrew in 1992, costing the insurance industry $21 billion in 2004 dollars. In 2004, the four lethal hurricanes that battered Florida cost the industry $23 billion in insured losses. Insurers paid $32.5 billion in claims following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
In addition, there are estimates that there were more than $125 billion in uninsured losses, such as damages to roads, highways, bridges, utilities, public buildings, ports, homes, businesses and property. The onerous cost of businesses being shuttered for an extended period in the affected areas could tally as much as $100 million a day. Additionally, the revenue losses that every level of government continues to incur because of the storm's disruption likely will number in the billions of dollars. In Louisiana, for instance, the state will lose nearly $10 million per month in tax revenues because thousands of video poker machines were knocked out of commission.
While the immediate impact of Katrina's deadly onslaught was directed primarily at Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, the hurricane's economic ripple effects spread like a fast moving contagion across the country. Almost instantly, supplies of gasoline ran dry at fuel stations across the country and long lines built up--reminiscent of the gas shortages of the 1970s--as motorists nervously lined up to top off their tanks. Gasoline futures surged, hitting $71 a barrel before dropping, and in some locations, prices at the pump shot up 50 percent overnight. By Labor Day 2005, the average U.S. price for gasoline reached about $3.06--up from about $2.37 a month before--which matched gasoline's March 1981 record in inflation-adjusted terms.
There are mixed forecasts on Katrina's impact on the nation's economy. Some analysts contend Katrina...
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