[cake_crumb]

"There's no question is was a horrible storm and we've only begun to learn how bad. Yet, I know I'm relieved. It could have been so much worse, and it was a close call. The difference between megadisaster and disaster might boil down to 20 miles and slight adjustment in storm track and intensity."

Yes, it could have been a LOT worse than it has been. The actual death tolls are always bad enough without all the conspiracy theorists popping out of the woodwork to scream government coverup. Next thing we'll be hearing is that GW created this storm to get rid of NO and steal Louisiana's oil.

As for damage estimates, quintuple any inflationary consideration out of hand when talking about building materials. Especially since all or Canada's trees come from the US and all of our lumber comes back down from Canada (fewer environazi regs in that "Green" country).

But to put it into perspective, there's thousands of people who've just been made homeless...but at least they're alive.

[Dog Gone]

That's exactly right. I had visions of over 10,000 dead today just last evening. It is going to be a fraction of that.

The economic damage will take longer to judge. I'm especially worried about the offshore oil facilities, but there's still a human side to what will happen in affected communities.

That still has to play out.