Photo: U.S. Coast Guard /Getty ImagesTropical Storm Harvey will take a financial toll on the nation’s economy, but how much of one depends on the extent of flooding in the coming days. Even after the immediate threat from Harvey has passed and the floodwaters receded, the Texas Gulf Coast faces tens of billions of dollars in property damage, bottlenecks at some of the nation’s largest oil refineries, and work disruptions possibly for millions of workers. “The damage will likely be much higher than most recent hurricanes have been,” said Adam Kamins, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics. Moody’s preliminary estimate is that the storm will cause between $30 billion and $40 billion of property damage. This is in part because storm often spark construction booms that employ tens of thousands of people to clean up and rebuild.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 28, 2017 21:28 UTC