NEW YORK (AP) - From gas stations to grocery stores, farms to factories, the force of Hurricane Katrina is rippling through the economy, confronting consumers and businesses with higher prices and logistical dilemmas, even thousands of miles (kilometers) from the Gulf Coast.
Unlike most natural disasters, Katrina is that rare economic event - sweeping and devastating enough to damage commerce well beyond its region, affecting the price, supply and markets for goods critical to business and counted on in daily life.