Disaster

Authored by Caroline Baum via MarketWatch.com,

Yes, GDP may get a temporary boost from rebuilding, but there’s nothing positive about destruction

Once the immediate danger of a natural disaster subsides, and the loss of life, property damage, cost of rebuilding, and degree of insurance coverage can be assessed, attention generally turns to the economic effect. How will Hurricane Harvey affect the nation’s gross domestic product?

A chemical plant in Crosby, Texas belonging to French industrial giant Arkema SA, has announced it is evacuating workers on Tuesday due to the risk of an explosion, after Tropical Storm Harvey knocked out power and flooding swamped its backup generators. The French company said the situation at the plant “has become serious” and said that it is working with the Department of Homeland Security and the State of Texas to set up a command post in a suitable location near our site.

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As Tropical Storm Harvey heads back inland, slamming southwest Texas with another 15-25 inches of rain, Housting officials are reporting that the city's critical infrastructure is starting to fail under the weight of the floodwaters, and may soon collapse.

According to Reuters, roads and bridges in Houston have started to buckle under the impact of the catastrophic flooding in parts of the city. According to Jeff Linder of the Harris County Flood Control District, one bridge had collapsed and some roads had been damaged by the torrential rains.

Hurricane Harvey's historic flooding in Texas is set to wreak havoc on the auto industry and its insurers with analysts now predicting the storm could damage more vehicles than Hurricane Katrina.  In August 2005, Katrina wiped out some 500,000-600,000 vehicles but William Armstrong of CL King warns that Houston has about 5x more people than New Orleans did at the time.

Levees at Columbia Lakes in Brazoria County have been breached, according to the official Brazoria County website.

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FLASH FLOOD WARNING western Brazoria county until 5:45 PM. Brazos levee at Columbia Lakes has breached. All residents urged to evacuate now pic.twitter.com/7MZRyL3M3x

— FOX26Houston (@Fox26Houston) August 29, 2017