Ike’s impact to the economy not as bad as feared

Though damages could top an estimated $8B

A small change in Hurricane Ike’s course just before it crashed into the Texas coast Saturday may have spared the state and the nation from significantly worse economic damage.

The center of the storm appeared to miss the vital concentration of oil and petrochemical refineries in the Houston area, and the surge of water rolling into the nation’s second-largest port was also weaker than predicted.



“If the eye of that storm had been as much as 20 miles east, we would have a lot more havoc and damage than we did,” said Chris Johnson, a senior vice president at commercial property insurer FM Global.

Much of the region’s industrial recovery will depend on how quickly power companies can restore electricity; that, in turn, will depend on how quickly the utilities can get employees back to work.

AP