Flood-related spending drives Sept. sales up double digits

BATON ROUGE - Consumer and business spending in East Baton Rouge Parish increased by 12.9 percent in September as people affected by the devastating August floods bought building materials and replaced water-damaged cars.Nearly $813.7 million was spent in the parish during September. That's according to figures released Monday by the city-parish Finance Department. That compares with nearly $720.7 million in September 2015.The Advocate reports September's sales boost was no surprise. LSU Economi