After pounding Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina slams economy.

TAMPA, FLA. -- In just two short weeks since the nation's worst natural disaster on record brought unprecedented human suffering and destruction to the Gulf Coast, retailers nationwide are suddenly facing an economy on the precipice. What had become an uncertain consumer climate by the third week in August is now shaping up to be a stranglehold on consumer spending as already lofty fuel prices surged higher in the wake of Katrina's wrath.

By Sept. 1, when it became clear that the storm had severely hampered the region's oil production and refining capabilities, gas prices in many parts of the country had risen well above $3 per gallon. According to Citigroup analyst …