$100 billion of damage over the next 24 hours.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/091308dnbusike.1906df2.html


At an evening news conference, state officials estimated that the economic impact would reach $81 billion – and could creep up to $100 billion over the next 24 hours.

"They're calling for almost a tsunami wave of water to go up the Houston Ship Channel," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said, citing possible damage to oil rigs and refineries.

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The refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast are responsible for about 20 percent of the country's refining capacity. They supply most of the gasoline to the middle third of the country, so the price could rise all the way to Chicago.

The U.S. gasoline inventory is about 188 million barrels, nearing the all-time low of 186 million barrels seen during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said Dan Pickering, research analyst at Houston-based Tudor Pickering Holt and Co. As the supply of fuel to North Texas terminals stops, retailers must decide whether to raise prices.

I suspect that like Katrina, most of the production will be back online in 2 weeks or so. However, I do expect that this will be used to justify even more wind-fall profits for the Oil Companies who seem to always take full advantage of such things.