Almost three months after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the economic impact of the disaster continues to spread across coastal communities and beyond -- destroying jobs and livelihoods, hurting businesses and damping tourism. Based on the experience of Alaskan communities after the Exxon Valdez disaster, the economic devastation is sure to be felt for decades and total billions of dollars.
Though the impact at this stage is hard to measure and is bound to change -- unemployment in Louisiana rose in May but is likely to dip in June due to the hiring of thousands of former oil workers to do cleanup work -- there are hundreds of towns and cities already suffering.
From Weems, Virginia, where a longtime oyster-shucking plant was forced to close its doors to Bayou La Batre, Albama, where the Anchor Assembly of God has experienced a $50,000 loss, these communities are reeling. As part of its effort to track the impact, HuffPost launched a map that notes the impact of the oil spill on cities, towns and counties across the region and beyond. The green circles represent communities that have been impacted by the spill - click on each of them to get more details. Obviously, this map represents a small sliver of those who have been affected in the region.
To keep the map up to date and as comprehensive as possible, please send your additions to oilspillimpact@huffingtonpost.com. We'll update the map regularly with the information you send us -- you can also contribute below:
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