The economic impact of hurricane "Harvey"

By now, we all know Hurricane "Harvey" will have a devastating economic impact on Texas oil & on the U.S. economy. There will be countless negative consequences from this monster of a storm: mainly & most importantly; the human tragedy. However, the storm did happen, so we can also analyze what could be considered (given the catastrophic consequences) positive activity after the devastation. For example: the eventual economic growth due to new construction in the coming years. 

This article from the NYTimes explains some of the potential impact:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/business/economy/texas-hurricane-harvey-economic-impact.html

"Despite wobbly oil prices, local job growth has accelerated, along with continued improvement in home sales and construction. The number of Texas oil rigs has been rising over the past year, giving a big lift to exploration and chemical manufacturing jobs. Now, however, the Houston area could sustain billions to tens of billions in lost economic activity.

Those losses will be seen in homes not purchased, sales not closed, gas not bought or shipped. Hundreds of thousands are without power, and there will be lost wages from people whose employers are shut down or who can’t get to work."

Another pressing question is; what will happen to gas prices?

"The Houston metropolitan area, the nation’s fifth largest, accounted for 2.9 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product as of 2015, and that figure is almost certainly higher today. A good amount of that comes from trade: Texas accounts for about half of petroleum and gas exports, along with about a fifth of chemical exports.

“Since the Port Arthur refining complex is the largest in the U.S. and the second largest in the world, this will no doubt impact gasoline and chemicals prices,” said Brett Ryan, senior United States economist at Deutsche Bank."

The Houston Chronicle has some additional information about 
the disruption in the oil & gas industry:  

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Health-care-companies-lead-stocks-higher-gas-12045379.php

"STORMY WEATHER: Tropical Storm Harvey continued to hit parts of Texas with historically heavy rains. The National Weather Service says some parts of Houston and its suburbs could get as much as 50 inches of rain before the storm abates, which isn't expected to happen for days. The storm has shut down Texas' oil and gas industry, and S&P Global analysts said about 2.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity was down or being brought down by Sunday."

"Wholesale gasoline futures rose 4 percent, or 2.4 percent, to $1.58 a gallon. Refining companies climbed, as they stand to benefit from higher gas prices." 

As far as the markets: the S&P as well as the dow ended lower because of (among other issues) the price of oil:
http://www.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idUSL2N1LE0WV?feedType=RSS&feedName=usDollarRpt

"U.S. crude oil futures fell on Monday but gasoline prices surged to 2-year highs as Tropical Storm Harvey kept hammering the U.S. Gulf Coast, knocking out several refineries which backed up crude supplies and disrupted fuel production."

As already mentioned, while the price of oil dropped, U.S. gasoline soared (which does not bode well for U.S. motorists like me; which is the least important point of this post given the ongoing tragedy in Texas). Nevertheless, explanation (of why oil went down while gasoline went up) below; 
"Why oil prices are sinking as gasoline soars after Harvey"

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-oil-prices-are-sinking-as-gasoline-soars-after-harvey-2017-08-28

“West Texas oil futures fell as the market expects that refineries will demand less oil as they take weeks, maybe longer, to come back on line,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, in a note. “Brent crude on the other hand stayed stronger as the U.S. will demand product from Europe as well as some shut down of Libyan oil production over the weekend.”