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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Economy jolted by hurricanes

Associated Press

While Florida’s economy will get the biggest jolt from the improbable string of hurricanes this year, consumers around the country may notice the effects in coming weeks and months when they buy a gallon of gas, a carton of orange juice or a bag of peanuts.

The storms seem likely to impact Americans outside Florida in a variety of ways, most of them subtle, but a few with potentially bigger consequences.

A rebuilding boom could suck construction materials and labor southward, pushing up prices in the rest of the country. While Florida’s insurance market has its own disaster fund, damage elsewhere could cause companies to raise premiums. And Florida’s tourism woes could further harm already teetering airlines, perhaps forcing them to pull out of even more markets.

On the other hand, vacation destinations outside Florida could benefit from skittishness about visiting the state. So could Northern states hoping to stem the flow of people and businesses who have been moving full-time to Florida.

“We’ve already heard anecdotal evidence of industrial recruiting in Florida, and the companies say, ‘We’re going to drop you off our list,”’ said Mark Soskin, an economist at the University of Central Florida. “Now you’re actually hearing people talking about, ‘Maybe this isn’t the best place to live.’ There’s a lot of stress here, you can see it in people’s eyes.”

For most Americans, the most visible effect of the hurricanes has been their contribution to a surge in oil prices, which broke $50 per barrel for the first time Tuesday. Florida isn’t a major refining center or transportation hub for gasoline, but Hurricane Ivan shut down 39 production platforms and two drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearly 12 million barrels of oil, or 2 percent of annual output there, have been lost since crews were evacuated ahead of that storm earlier this month.

Americans will also feel the storms’ impact at the grocery store. Orange juice prices at the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain are currently no higher than a month ago, the company says, but orange juice futures are up more than one-third on commodities markets since the beginning of August, suggesting prices will rise.

Tomato prices have jumped 50 percent in recent weeks, and squash has nearly doubled, said David Bova, an owner of Produce Source Partners, a wholesaler in Roanoke, Va. The hurricanes hit just as many crops were coming out of season in the rest of the country — a gap usually filled by Florida suppliers. The problem was compounded by hot weather in the West that shortened the growing season there.

“Chances are, high prices on these products will not really stabilize for at least 30 to 60 days,” Bova said.

The storms also are expected to delay the harvesting of peanuts in Georgia, where the pecan crop was hard hit.