Companies struggle to assess impact
With search-and-rescue missions the priority, power still out in many places, and communications spotty, assessing the economic ripples from Katrina in the gulf region and beyond is, at best, a guessing game.
"We don't have the boots on the ground right now," says David Feider, a spokesman for Cargill, a commodities company with operations throughout Louisiana. Many Cargill employees evacuated the area on Saturday, bringing the company's grain operations to a halt. "To do an assessment of our facilities is pretty difficult. We're in a wait-and-see mode."
But the first glimpses of the storm's aftermath shook participants in the regional economy.
"Looking down and seeing the majority of casinos uplifted or placed on the beach and on Highway 90 itself would lead anyone to believe this would be a major impact on our economy," says Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. Legal gambling in Mississippi, home to the nation's third-largest cluster of casinos, generated more than $2.7 billion in revenue last year, with the Gulf Coast responsible for nearly half of those profits. Of the 13 casinos that lined the Gulf Coast, Gregory estimates that only a few may have weathered the storm. Casino chain Harrah's, the state's largest employer, reported extensive damage to its Biloxi and Grand Casino properties; a third resort in New Orleans is expected to remain closed for at least an additional four weeks.
More uncertain is the fate of agricultural crops and products in the region, such as sugar cane, cotton, poultry, and oysters. Louisiana, one of the largest producers of sugar cane in the country, was expected to produce 1.38 million tons this year. The extent of damage to the crop is still undetermined, though industry experts fear much of the harvest has been knocked down by high winds. Cotton and rice crops in Mississippi, largely outside Katrina's path, may have fared better. Still, says Patrick Sullivan, a director with the Mississippi Department of Agriculture, who spent yesterday trying to gauge the damage to the state's crop production: "All you can say is that it's going to be extremely difficult to recover. You can't put a dollar figure on it right now."
Also hampering many companies are closed ports, responsible for heavy export and import traffic. Sixty-five to 70 percent of U.S. grain exports go through Louisiana, as do 71 percent of corn exports and 65 percent of soybeans. Like those of many other companies with shipments through the once busy New Orleans port, Cargill's barges are at a standstill until the waterways are cleared. The port is also a major importer of bananas, coffee, forest products, and other goods.
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