Remember this:

Economy was wavering before Katrina

The U.S. economy may have been losing steam even before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in late August, a gauge of likely future conditions showed on Thursday as Hurricane Rita bore down on the Texas oil patch.

Leading economic indicators fell by 0.2 percent in August, slightly less than the median forecast for a 0.3 percent decline, according to the New York-based Conference Board....

July's indicators were revised to show a 0.1 percent drop from an original 0.1 percent increase.

The index has risen only 1.9 percent over the past year....

--Reuters

A bit more detail, from MarketWatch:

Consumer expectations was the biggest contributor to the decline in the index....

Even before the storm, levels of business investment and hiring "reflect a level of caution about pricing and profit potential," [Ken] Goldstein [of the Conference Board] said....

If the economy dips into recession, the Bushies will put all the blame on the storms. They'll expect you to forget this.