Days before Hurricane Harvey barrelled into the Texas coast on Friday, home improvement retailers were preparing truckloads of lumber, shingles and other materials that property owners in the storm-raked communities will need to rebuild.
The deliveries will have to wait, however, as 56 stores between Home Depot and Lowe's in south-east Texas remained closed as of Sunday amid widespread flooding. Once they reopen, the chains could be among the biggest beneficiaries of the post-storm recovery.
Lowe's has sent "500 truckloads" of supplies to the storm zone, its spokeswoman Sarah Lively told Reuters. "We are reopening those stores as quickly as possible."
For the moment, the biggest storm to hit Texas in 50 years is posing a major disruption to one of the most important economic crossroads in the United States and the heart of its oil industry. Ports, railways and motorways are closed or clogged, potentially blocking movement of key parts of the US manufacturing supply chain.
Catastrophic flooding triggered by now Tropical Storm Harvey inundated Houston on Sunday, forcing residents of the fourth most populous US city to flee their homes in anticipation of more days of "unprecedented" rainfall.
The home improvement retailers, well versed in the business of disaster, are probably steps ahead of most companies.
At Home Depot, the spokesman Matt Harrigan said preparations began "as soon as the storm was on the radar".
Both Home Depot and Lowe's said they have set up command centres to manage the response. Both companies also said they will freeze prices for lumber, roofing and other rebuilding materials for a time in the affected zone.
Other US companies, including cR makers, railroads and insurers, will probably be trying to send investors similar reassuring messages as trading starts the week.
Texas is a significant vehicle market, particularly for highly profitable pickup trucks built by the big three Detroit car makers.
In the short term, the storm will hamper operations at dealers and could dampen August sales. But longer term, "it seems there has been enough flooding to damage thousands of light vehicles that will need replacing", said Nick Colas, an independent analyst based in New York City.
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For insurers, the storm could be a mixed blessing.
"Insurers - from a long-term point of view they can raise their rates, but some insurers, if they have a particular geographic or sector concentration can get really beaten up," said Michael Purves, the chief global strategist at Weeden & Co.
"Maybe the winners are the companies that have the least damage but the most licence to increase their premiums."
It was not clear on Sunday how the storm would affect supply chains for car makers and other manufacturers that depend on goods flowing to and from northern Mexico.
Ford Motor, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Sunday they had thus far not seen any impact or issues with getting parts across the storm zone but were monitoring the storm closely. The area of Mexico south of the storm zone is a major centre for car parts manufacturing.
BNSF Railway and Union Pacific told customers they would probably curtail operations in flooded areas.
The storm has led to record flooding across Houston. Elected officials, meteorologists and emergency managers all say there has never been anything like this there, and the downpour could last for days.
“Houston has another 100 hours of this,” Todd Crawford, the chief meteorologist at The Weather Company in Massachusetts, told Bloomberg. “Words really can’t express the impacts this will have, when all is said and done. There is no historical comparison. It is simply a tragedy of epic proportions.”
Harvey smashed ashore near Rockport, Texas, Friday as a Category 4 hurricane. As the winds subsided Sunday to about 64ph, from 180kph earlier, rain and flooding took over as the main threat from the storm. As much as 25 inches of rain had already fallen by Sunday and another two feet is possible, the National Hurricane Center said at 5pm New York time.
The National
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Australia squads
ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The years Ramadan fell in May
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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Abu Dhabi GP starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
5 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
7 Romain Grosjean (Haas)
8 Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
9 Esteban Ocon (Force India)
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
11 Carlos Sainz (Renault)
12 Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
13 Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
14 Sergio Perez (Force India)
15 Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
16 Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
17 Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
18 Stoffe Vandoorne (McLaren)
19 Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
20 Lance Stroll (Williams)
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