Question

Summary of poem after the storm

Answer 1

early this week the East Coast of the
US was hit by an extremely strong
hurricane. The population was warned,
but even authorities were shocked by
the severity of wind gusts, rainfalls and
floods. In some areas, it will take days
for ground transportation and electricity
distribution to resume properly. The
damages are terrible, with many lives
taken. The cost estimate is of between
USD 30 bn and USD 40 bn. Part of it
will be covered by the federal
government, as President Obama
declares major disaster declarations for
10 States and the District of Columbia.
As for the consequences on the US
economy, they are very likely not to be
noticeable in national data beyond
some noise in October and November.
Part of the country stopped working for
a few days, but they will catch up, and
beyond some expenses that will never
happen (the coffee at the train station),
GDP should not be affected: October
data may be down because of Sandy,
but November will be up and Q4 will be
left unchanged. USD 40 bn is a lot of
money, but just 0.2% of the US GDP.
Since reconstruction spending are
spread over a few quarters, it will be
impossible to trace them in national
figures.