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Bill Keeps Growing For Mid-Atlantic, Midwest Snow Storm
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February 11, 2010 6:17 p.m. EST
Topics: report, weather, economy, business and finance, weather news, United States
Tom Ramstack - AHN Correspondent
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) - Snow moved to the forefront of national politics and the economy this week as government and business offices shut down temporarily throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest.
Snow postponed debates in Congress, shut down airports, gave schoolchildren a day off and left their parents trying to dig out their cars.
"The two blizzards that struck the East Coast this week will perceptibly weigh on major economic data releases for the month of February," wrote Harm Bandholz, an economist for UniCredit Bank, in a market research note.
More snow has fallen on Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., this winter than anytime on record.
Now the question is how big the bill for it will be.
Federal budget keepers estimate a government shutdown for a single snow day costs taxpayers $100 million in lost productivity.
Federal offices were closed for four days through Thursday of this week and congressional hearings were postponed in advance for Friday.
The closest similar comparison to snowfall of the past week comes from the 1993 blizzard that struck the East Coast, costing more than $6 billion in the short-term.
Payrolls in March 1993 fell by 51,000 and the average work week fell by 0.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, housing starts fell more than 10 percent.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated that each one inch of snowfall this week cost the city $1 million.
Among the postponed efforts in Congress is debate on an $80 billion proposal to use financial incentives to spur investment and job creation, as well as extend benefits for the unemployed.
However, some economists say that what appear to be losses initially more likely mean consumers are delaying their purchases and government will still get its work done, just on a different schedule.
In April 1993, one month after the big snowstorm, payrolls rose by 309,000 and housing starts increased by 16 percent after big losses only weeks earlier.
In addition, many of the 230,000 federal government workers who stayed home this week worked out of home offices using e-mail and telephones.
Snowstorms tend to disrupt more than damage the economy, according to National Weather Service research.
Winter storms create only 3 percent of the cost of weather events, far less than hurricanes, flooding, heat waves and other severe weather.
Some hotels and restaurants are profiting from the snow emergency by running sales to bring in customers displaced from their homes by power outages or vehicle breakdowns.
Nevertheless, the disruptions were widespread this week.
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell issued a statement saying, "For your safety, do not drive," as he ordered highways throughout the state closed until the snow was cleared.
The U.S. Treasury Department cited "extreme weather conditions in the Washington metropolitan area" for its decision to delay release of its monthly budget statement. The statement lists how much money the government spent and earned in the previous month.
Costs of the snow also are falling on local governments, where cleanup and lost productivity are making municipal politicians wonder whether they could qualify for federal disaster relief.
Between 10 inches and 20 inches fell on large parts of the Mid-Atlantic this week, which comes on top of roughly the same amount of snow late last week. More snow is forecast for Monday, but only a dusting.
Already, 55.9 inches of snow has fallen on Washington this winter, according to the National Weather Service.
Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty said during a local television interview that he spoke with Homeland Security officials who assured him they would try to respond promptly to his request for financial assistance.
The District's government offices and schools remained closed Thursday.
A few inches of snow in New York did not stop the stock markets from opening, although with lukewarm trading.
As the last of the snow fell Wednesday, the Nasdaq closed after having traded only 1.97 billion shares, far less than its average of 2.5 billion per day. The New York Stock Exchange traded 4.25 billion shares, compared with 5 billion on a normal day.
The governors of Maryland and Virginia have applied for federal disaster declarations to make businesses eligible for Small Business Administration disaster loans.
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 AHN - All rights reserved.Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.License AHN news for your website, business, digital signage network or publication.
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