you finally have flights coming back in to ft. lauderdale. very slowly business trying to get back to usual. it s interesting how long it will take because of the power outages and gas shortages to get out there and assess the damage and get the recovery part of this started. gas prices, by the way, rising across the country because of both disruptions because of the refineries with harvey, and then irma, it s $2.71, and $2.27 is what it was just last week. and the cost estimate for the damage is nowhere near the $200 billion? do we know that for sure? you saw really high damage estimates, and then the storm wobbles. something called the bermuda
market had seen in four years. a lot of people are wondering if wall street is bracing for another down day. reporter: another week, another day, another decline. you can expect to see more red arrows at the opening bell. the do you tumbled 531 points, the worst day in four years. that was keyed by worries of slowdown in china. speculation over when the fed will hike interest rates and the continued slide in oil prices. asian prices fell overnight. we can get some clues whether a rate hike is coming when the vice chairman speaks in wyoming this weekend. prices are falling below 39 dollars a barrel but gas isn t following suit and held at $2.71 a gallon. analysts say prices are higher in the midwest.
adding to the global supply of oil. it is bad news for oil companies. great if you drive a car. the national average is $2.71 a gallon. that is 80 cents lower than this time last year. prices are expected to fall more in the coming weeks. that is a really big drop. it will make a big difference as people hit the roads in august. a lot of jobs lost in the oil sector. alison kosik, thanks. early start continues right now. a moment in presidential history. president obama now the first sitting president to visit ethiopia. we are live with new details on this historic visit. donald trump on top. these new polls keep coming in showing him as the gop frontrunner no matter what he says about immigrants or john mccain or anything. new numbers.
u.s. oil produces increased activity last week. that is bad news for oil companies and great news for drivers. the national average today is $2.71 a gallon. that is 80 cents lower than this time last year. prices are expected to fall in the coming weeks. a big drop from last year. big difference if you are hitting the roads. the president making history with a trip to ethiopia and the contest to succeed him is heating up. new poll with numbers on the 2016 race moments away. new day starts now. trump still leading the pack. people are tired of the inn pe tonight politicians. and president obama with the nuclear deal with iran. is it perfect? no. is it better than alternatives?
dramatic than usual. more than a penny a day over the last month. alison kosik joins me to talk me out of my theory that they always raise prices before memorial day. 33 out of the past 35 days we have seen gas prices head higher. believe it or not, it s not as much as you think. let me show you the comparison if we can pull up what it looks like today per gallon. it s $2.71 a gallon. that s the national average. to put it in perspective here. this time last year it was $3.65 a gallon. we re almost a dollar less than last year. i know it feels like it hurts. some people are saying why is this happening? first of all, the price of oil and strength of the dollar go hand in hand. so we are seeing the dollar weaken a bit. what you see happen is investors pile into oil and buy more oil pushing the price of oil up more and that is adding to those higher gas prices. i talked to one oil analyst who