The economic good news about Hurricane Ike: It was no Katrina.
Unlike the 2005 storm that flooded New Orleans, Ike has had a limited effect on refineries and energy exploration platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and isn't approaching Katrina's $40 billion in damage.
The result is that the effect on the national economy is expected to be sharp but limited, analysts said.
"It's going to be felt by the U.S. economy -- not to extent that Katrina was," said Brad Ewing, an economist at Texas Tech University in Lubbock who studies the financial effect of hurricanes and tornadoes.
Only rough estimates on the losses from Ike were available from risk management companies, but their guesses ranged from $8 billion to $18 billion.
"An important phrase you'll hear is: 'Less than Katrina, bigger than others,' " said Ed Friedman, an analyst at Moody's Economy.com.
Ike was not powerful enough to overwhelm the main industrial infrastructure of the region, which had been toughened up after it was wracked by devastating storms in 2005.
"The infrastructure is more resilient now," said Jim Burkhard of Cambridge Energy Research Associates Inc. "People, governments, companies are more prepared now than they were a couple of years ago."
The Port of Houston, the second busiest by tonnage in the country, was shut down Monday because of the storm. The port is a major entry point for products from Europe and Latin America. But officials said the port is expected open later this week.
About 20% of U.S. refineries were in Ike's path, and they closed as a precautionary measure last week, sending gasoline prices skyrocketing to more than $5 a gallon in some areas. However, damage to refineries and exploration platforms was limited, and oil prices are falling because consumers' nervousness over the global economic slowdown has reduced demand.
Ike "has had a big impact, but that's been offset by the financial storm the U.S. is facing," Burkhard said.
Downtown Houston, home to many of the nation's largest energy companies, never lost power because its electrical lines are underground.
Windows in several corporate high-rises were shattered by the storm, but Richard Huebner, president of the Houston Minority Business Council, said he felt cheered as he toured the area Sunday.
"We were not hit as hard as we might have been," he said. "There are relatively few towers affected in any significant way."
