The total effect was “conservatively estimated” at between $97 and $118 million, said Erik Bruvold, president of the San Diego-based think tank. The total included about $70 million in productivity losses as well as government overtime and perished foods.
Bruvold said the estimates were based on figures from the San Diego Gas & Electric system and did not cover effect in other blackout areas such as Orange County and the Imperial Valley.
PHOTOS: Blackout leaves millions without power
In San Diego, supermarkets were forced to throw out spoiled goods, including meat and dairy markets, and some stores strung yellow tape across milk sections to alert customers.
Gonzalo Gonzalez, the owner of a Mexican restaurant in Lemon Grove, east of San Diego, spent Friday morning lugging boxes of avocados and tomatoes into his freezer. “We lost everything yesterday: avocados, shrimp, beans, not to mention all of the lost customers. It was a disaster,” he said.
At the Keating Hotel in San Diego’s downtown Gaslamp district, employees lined hallways with candles, distributed flashlights to guests and carted in free pizza and drinks. The lobby was turned into a lounge, and many people mingled into the late hours. Nobody got stuck in the elevator, unlike some guests at other hotels.
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