michael hicks is director of the center for business and economic research at ball state. he joins us from indianapolis tonight. >> tom: usually storms just delay economic activity. we we can't buy a house or a t-shirt today, we'll go out tomorrow when the stores reopen. why do you think this one is different? >> i think the widespread geography of this event really reflects a difficulty for supply chains so, if you think about this event affecting one in four households with perhaps one in 10 households actually snowed in right now, having ice on them, with interstate highways closed, the loss of supply chains across make lift and the mississippi river, -- lake middle of the and the mississippi river, this is something that's going to delay commerce and idle factories for several days. >> tom: what's the difference between delaying commerce and eliminating it? you're talking about this permanently being erased from the economy, aren't you? >> either that or there's going to be an enormous cost to make it up. if you think about a retailer who is selling clothing or a car t