The Economic Losses Caused By Hurricane Katrina Will Be Felt In Many Areas

The US could expect major economic disruption which will ripple worldwide after Hurricane Katrina's furious winds and rain shut ports and hammered oil production, analysts said.
With towns flattened, ports on the Mississippi blocked, coastal refineries starved of crude and oil production in the Gulf of Mexico virtually at a standstill, Katrina has had a devastating effect.
Economic losses from one of the most powerful hurricanes in US history could go as high as $US35 billion ($46.6 billion), said Peter Zeihan, senior analyst at Stratfor, a global economic and political consultancy in Austin, Texas.
"The big question is how much the rivers and ports have been silted up. It could be fixed in two days, it could be two months," he said. "If it's the longer end, we're going right into the grain harvest.
"The US is the biggest grain exporter in the world, and most of those exports go down the Mississippi. So food and feed prices could soar worldwide," he said. "And imports of oil and all sorts of other goods will be blocked going upstream. Domestic prices will jump as a result."