This Oct. 31, 2012 photo shows one of scores of homes in Mantoloking, N.J. that were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. Even with federal reimbursement for much of the cleanup and rebuilding expenses, hard-hit towns could be facing property tax hikes next year as a result of the unexpected costs, and the loss of millions of dollars of taxable property.WASHINGTON – Superstorm Sandy packed a bigger economic punch than most people had thought.
In its sweep through the Northeast, the storm halted sales at major retailers at the start of the crucial holiday shopping season, closed factories and slowed home sales in one of the most densely populated areas of the country.
On Thursday, for example, Kohl’s, Target and Macy’s blamed the storm for weak sales in November. Macy’s and Nordstrom Inc. reported their first monthly sales drop since late 2009, when the U.S. economy was just emerging from the Great Recession.
And the government said this week that new-home sales plunged 32 percent in the Northeast last month and nearly 12 percent in the South. By contrast, sales surged nearly 63 percent in the Midwest and nearly 9 percent in the West.
Sandy is being blamed for about $62 billion in damage and other losses in the U.S., most of it in New York and New Jersey. It’s the second-costliest storm in U.S. history after Hurricane Katrina, which caused $128 billion in damage in inflation-adjusted dollars.