Superstorm Sandy leaves trail of devastation

Superstorm Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damages and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business.
The devastation the storm inflicted on New York City and other parts of the Northeast will barely nick the US economy. 
The short-term blow to the economy, though, could subtract about 0.6 percentage point from US economic growth in the October-December quarter, IHS says. Retailers, airlines and home construction firms will likely lose some business.
The storm cut power to about 7 million homes, shut down 70 percent of East Coast oil refineries and inflicted worse-than-expected damage in the New York metro area. That area produces about 10 percent of US economic output.
New York City was all but closed off by car, train and air. The superstorm overflowed the city's waterfront, flooded the financial district and subway tunnels and cut power to hundreds of thousands.