Hurricane Katrina :: Economic Impact
Hurricane Katrina has already had significant economic effects, which are expected to continue. Here is more about the Economy variables.
Ocean shipping
Gulfport, Mississippi serves as a major ocean shipping port for the southern United States. Currently the port is considered to be inoperable, and will be for up to one year. Chiquita, Dole, Crowley, Gearbulk, P&O, and others had significant operations in Gulfport. On a short-term basis these companies will move necessary operations to unaffected ports. On a long-term basis these companies will likely relocate the operations formerly based in Gulfport to other locations in the country [12], [13].
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The affected area's ports move a large fraction of the nation’s traded goods including roughly half of America's exports of agricultural commodities like corn and soybeans. Most of this is shipped overseas and disruptions are expected to impact food prices and availability world-wide.
On Friday, September 9, Port of New Orleans CEO Gary LaGrange estimated that commercial shipping capacity at the port would be restored to 10-20% within a week, 30% within a month, 70% within three months and 100% within six months. The restoration plan called for up to 1000 port workers to be housed on ships [14].
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