New York's financial centre remains shut down as the result of Hurricane Sandy, a powerful storm with the potential to seriously disrupt functioning in the world's largest economy.
The New York Stock Exchange and rival exchange operators Nasdaq OMX Group and CME Group jointly decided to shut down on Monday and Tuesday, as the storm nears landfall and threatens as many as 60 million people on the U.S. eastern seaboard. It's hoped that business will resume Wednesday.
It's the first time the stock exchange has been closed for two consecutive days for weather-related reasons since 1888. That time, the cause was a massive blizzard that left 12-metre snowbanks in parts of the city.
The shutdown came on the heels of New York citizens facing mandatory evacuations from designated zones starting Sunday night.
As much of 25% of the U.S. economy could be affected, which could mean up to $45 billion U.S. in losses, according to one expert.
Estimates for Irene's impact at the time were roughly $7 billion U.S. in losses, but the final toll ended up being closer to $20 billion U.S.
But the expert added that disasters like that tend to be followed by a round of spending on rebuilding infrastructure, which can have a stimulative effect on the economy.
More than 7,000 U.S. flights have already been cancelled, and Toronto-based Porter Airlines announced that all flights in and out of that city's island airport as of 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon had been cancelled. All the airline's flights in and out of Boston, Washington and Newark airports have also been cancelled, Porter said in a release.
