The cost of Hurricane Fabian to local retailers will be "severe" not only by store fronts being blown in and stock damaged by water, but also by the lack of tourists and residents who are focused on more important matters at hand said the Chamber of Commerce.

The head of the Visitor Retail Division of the Chamber of Commerce, George Grundmuller, said that most stores - between 80 to 90 percent of them - had opened yesterday, even if they were not fully staffed.

And he said that hardware and essential goods stores were doing a roaring trade, while other more tourist related and clothing stores were very quiet.

"Stores that have anything to do with energy supplies and repairs, especially hardware stores, are doing very well," he said. "But tourist-related stores have not had much business at all. There are no cruise ships in, no flights getting through and nobody is in the mood to go shopping."

He said some stores had suffered extensive damage due to water - while others had escaped unscathed.

Mr. Grundmuller said it was too early to say what the overall damage to retail would be.

"It is anyone's guess what the fallout will be," he said. "But it will be severe, especially with the Fairmont Southampton and the Sonesta out of action for so long. "It will mean there are less beds and therefore less tourists. The capacity will simply be less and that will impact us on many levels. The trickle-down effect will be felt very hard."

But he said that he doubted it would be the same impact on the retail sector as September 11, and the sector could recover more quickly.

The retail sector had been seeing renewed growth and its leaders had praised Government for bringing in the mega-cruise ships, which have seen stores from St. George's to Hamilton and Dockyard see huge growth in sales. The retail sales index, which had seen the volume of goods sold in stores dip in 2001 and stay static in 2002, had been rising this summer as retailers reported healthier sales.

"People who are in the supply and repair sector will see growth," said Mr. Grundmuller. "But the outflow of money will be spent on essentials rather than on luxury goods."

Retailers will be hit again tomorrow as the Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday that Harbour Nights had been cancelled. "Police are tied up with other things, the Corporation of Hamilton is tied up with other things and there are no cruise ships in," said Fiona Roberts, the Chamber of Commerce's divisional coordinator. "In fact it was felt that everyone had their minds on other things."

But she said that Harbour Nights was going to go ahead next week, after most of the clean up work had been finished.

She added: "Retailers, restaurants and international business all appear to be open as normal with most of their staff. Those that are not at work is because schools are out or because people are attending to their property."