WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hurricane Sandy will cause temporary disruptions for companies, travelers, and consumers but won't likely slow the U.S. economy in the final quarter of 2012, analysts say.
Economic growth lost to the storm can likely be restored once reconstruction begins, notes Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.
"Assuming the storm simply disrupts things for a few days and it doesn't do significant damage to infrastructure, then I don't think it will have a significant national impact," Zandi says.
Preliminary estimates are that damage from the storm will range between $10 billion and $20 billion. That could top last year's Hurricane Irene, which cost $15.8 billion.
The damage could be more severe if the storm damages a port or a major manufacturing facility such as an oil refinery, Zandi notes.
