BUSINESS/CRISIS/PUERTO RICO: “Weeks after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, Alejandra Fedato, owner of a clothing boutique in San Juan’s Condado neighborhood, is having a hard time reopening.
Without power, she can’t take customer credit cards. She is still waiting for an insurance adjuster to assess the costs of flood damage. Never mind that many of her clients, as well as her sole employee, have temporarily left Puerto Rico because of conditions on the island. Ms. Fedato, 48 years old, said she is missing the fall clothing season and trying to sell the merchandise she salvaged at cost. Now she is weighing whether to buy new merchandise for winter—a decision she needs to make by the end of this month…
Already deeply troubled with more than $70 billion of debt, the island’s economy is starting to emerge from the lashing of the Category 4 hurricane. But in the absence of power and internet connectivity, local commerce is crippled, relying on paper and cash. Hotels and car-rental agencies that are open have turned to written records to keep track of bookings. Consumers must often pay in cash because most credit-card machines aren’t working. Many ATMs aren’t yet operational.
Between $20 billion and $40 billion could be lost in productivity output due to the storm-related disruptions, according to a September Moody’s Analytics report. Insured losses from Maria could total $28.4 billion due to damage to residential, commercial and industrial properties, as well as to vehicles, according to Karen Clark & Co.
Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said it could take $95 billion to rebuild. That’s nearly equivalent to the U.S. territory’s total annual economic output.”
-Daniela Hernadez and Arian Campo Flores, “Puerto Rican Businesses Struggle to Restart With Little Power After Hurricane Maria,’ The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 14, 2017 07:00am