Charleston will be feeling the effects of Hurricane Dorian even if the storm doesn’t cause serious damage.
This is according to historical records on the economic impact of past storms, which have led to millions of dollars in losses for area retailers and restaurants.
With tourists leaving or canceling plans to visit due to the storm, that loss of revenue, which businesses were counting on, creates a snowball effect, with recipients of tourism dollars spending less themselves in the coming weeks.
Even a storm like Hurricane Florence, which had a limited physical impact on the city, still resulted in about $36 million in losses.
Analysts say that often the perception of the storm’s impact can be enough to stunt the economy, with outsiders having bloated notions of the true physical impact of past storms.
So far the impact on Charleston this time around remains uncertain.