ECONOMICS REPORT - Katrina: The Human Cost Is Not the Only N

ECONOMICS REPORT - Katrina: The Human Cost Is Not the Only Number Expected to Be High
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, September 09, 2005

I'm Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Hurricane Katrina caused damage on a level never before seen in America when it struck the Gulf² Coast area last week.

 
A picture from the air showing the damage to New Orleans After Katrina
The most costly³ natural event in American history has been Hurricane Andrew. It struck south Florida in nineteen ninety-two. The National Climate Data Center says Andrew caused almost thirty-six thousand million dollars in damage, with inflation considered. With Katrina, there are damage estimates of one hundred thousand million dollars or more.

Early estimates suggest that private insurance companies could pay at least thirty thousand million dollars in claims. But many people in the affected⁴ areas had no insurance. Based on current estimates, experts say claims should not threaten the financial health of the insurance industry.

The estimates do not include government flood insurance offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The National Flood Insurance Program has more than three hundred thousand policies in Louisiana alone. The storm also caused severe damage in parts of Mississippi and Alabama.

Congress approved ten and one-half thousand million dollars in storm aid last week. This week President Bush requested fifty-two thousand million dollars more.

So far the evidence suggests that Katrina will affect the national economy but not enough to cause a recession. That was the message this week from the Congressional Budget Office. It says the storm could reduce growth for the rest of the year by up to one percentage point. Economists⁵ had generally expected economic growth of three to four percent during the second half of the year.

The budget office says progress in restarting Gulf Coast oil operations and pipelines⁶ make larger economic effects less likely. And it says higher fuel prices should be temporary.

Still, Katrina could reduce employment through the end of this year by about four hundred thousand jobs. But the budget office says employment should increase during the first half of next year as rebuilding gains speed.

Of course, the economic effects are much worse in the areas hit by Katrina. New Orleans is a transportation center and port. The railroad company CSX says it is able to send trains around the affected areas. And workers have been busy getting the port of New Orleans ready to reopen. But, for now, employment in the city is just about zero: everyone who lives there has been ordered out.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. I'm Bob Doughty.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。