Blizzard's hit on economy in hundreds of millions?
(WASHINGTON) -- Experts say the weekend blizzard along the East Coast could have an economic impact of up to $850 million, with restaurants, theaters and other entertainment venues, and some retailers taking the brunt of the hit.
But one expert says overall, the impact might be a wash because many businesses will have made extra money from people stocking up in advance on food, shovels and other items.
Chris Christopher, a U.S. macroeconomist at data firm IHS Global Insight, says other spending may just be delayed, like car buying and purchases of winter weather apparel, or shifted around.
Though retail stores and movie theaters were closed over the weekend, Christopher expects more people shopped online and ordered movies via Netflix or cable on-demand purchases.
Don't tell that to Ben Kibour, the man behind the Washington, D.C. institution, Jojo's. The snow shuttered his 13-year-old neighborhood restaurant. Kibour told CBS D.C. affiliate WUSA-TV the closure cost the business thousands of dollars.
"We missed our Saturday delivery and that's the main reason we don't have any supplies."
And, it was tough for his 23 employees to get to work. Plus, the bands that play there. Everyone was losing money.
"We all feel the pain," Kibour said.
Other D.C. restaurant owners said her said employees couldn't make it into work, so they couldn't serve food.
Not being able to serve food on a weekend means losing more than half of what they make in a week.
After a weekend of sledding, snowboarding and staying put, the entire eastern U.S. was facing a Monday commute slowed by slick roads, damaged transit lines and endless mounds of snow.
Authorities cautioned against unnecessary driving, airline schedules were in disarray and commuter trains were delayed or canceled for many as the work week began after a storm that dumped near record amounts of snow on the densely populated Washington, D.C. to New York City corridor. It dropped snwo . It dumped snow from the Gulf Coast to New England.
The last flakes fell just before midnight Saturday, but crews raced the clock all day Sunday to clear streets and sidewalks devoid of their usual bustle.