Have you dug out from all this snow yet? If you haven't seen it yet, you should take a look at this time-lapse video from Belmar, showing about three feet of snow falling over the weekend:
What are the effects of this storm on our economy? Most obviously, it puts a tremendous strain on our local governments. Although we don't know a dollar figure yet, the mayor of Woodbridge estimated that he had to call out 100 trucks to help with the plowing, on a Sunday night. He thinks it will probably end up being the most expensive snowstorm in the town's history.
If the storm had happened before Christmas, it probably would have made a bigger dent in retail sales, but its positioning just after the holiday means it made less of an impact. Post-Christmas sales make up 15 percent of holiday shopping, so the fact that a lot of stores were closed and/or inaccessible on Monday could hurt that. On the other hand, many people have this entire week off, so there's plenty of time to make up for lost shopping. Overall, we're still on track to have 2010 be the biggest holiday shopping season of all time.
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