In this week’s “Make Me Smart” newsletter, several battleground states hit by Hurricane Helene work to ensure voters have access to the polls head of Election Day. Plus, how the flopping of “Megalopolis” at the box office highlights the tradeoffs between making great art and making great profits.

The News Fix

A “once in a generation” flood. Six states are still working to restore order one week after Hurricane Helene brought deadly, catastrophic flooding and winds inland. Water, cellphone service and electricity are still offline in many communities, and hundreds of roads and bridges remain closed. Analysts estimate damage and other losses will cost the region’s economy $35 billion or more.

Election officials are working hard to keep voting on track, especially in key battleground states hit by the hurricane: Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Voters in those states could decide who takes the White House and which party controls the Senate. To ensure voters have access to the polls, states can set up temporary polling places, extend early voting, recruit more poll workers and make it easier for voters to drop off mail-in ballots.

Hurricanes alone don’t decrease voter turnout, but researchers at the Brennan Center for Justice found consolidating polling locations after natural disasters can. When Hurricane Michael made landfall in Florida 27 days before the 2018 midterm elections, then-Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order that allowed eight counties to relocate or close polling locations and expanded early and mail-in voting. Researchers estimate that the hurricane’s depressive effect reduced voter turnout by 13,800, which is significant considering the Senate race in Florida that year was decided by 10,033 votes.

The researchers found that voters were less likely to turn out when they had to travel farther from home to vote because their original polling place shut down. Scott’s executive order didn’t include additional funding, so many counties reduced the number of polling locations rather than relocate them.

If Helene reduces voting, it’s likely to hurt former President Donald Trump. Twenty-four percent of all the voters in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina who supported Trump in 2020 live in the 66 counties recently declared federal disaster areas. 

There’s still time to register to vote! Deadlines vary state to state, but through Sunday, every eligible citizen in the U.S. can register to vote in time for the presidential election, if not sooner. Go to Vote.gov to register or update your registration. There, you can get links to voting resources specific to your city and state, including alternative ways to vote if your preferred method is disrupted by Helene or another weather-related event.

Smart in a Shot

It took more than 40 years for director Francis Ford Coppola to make “Megalopolis,” a science fiction drama about an architect attempting to replace the decaying city of New Rome with a futuristic, utopian society.

To realize his vision, Coppola self-funded the film’s production budget of over $120 million. But it made a measly $4 million at the box office during its opening weekend.

There are lots of reasons “Megalopolis” flopped. Reviews were mixed. Some critics panned the film as “a bewildering disaster.” Positive reviewers applauded Coppola’s ambition more than the finished product.

Coppola has a history of self-financing films that studio execs thought were too risky. That bet paid off with “Apocalypse Now”; it doesn’t seem likely this time. But Coppola says recouping his investment is not the point.

“You can’t make motion pictures if your only goal is to make your debt payment,” the filmmaker told NPR. “Art has a degree of risk to it … making art without risk is like making babies without sex.”But Coppola has a plan to mitigate that risk too, telling The Wall Street Journal last month a flop could be a “very useful” tax write-down for his estate. It’s a popular and controversial strategy big studios use as well.

The Numbers

The federal student loan grace period is over. For the first time in four years, borrowers who fail to make monthly payments can now default on their loans. Let’s do the numbers.

Sept. 30

After a pandemic pause the Biden administration extended several times, student loan payments resumed Sept. 30 last year. Borrowers had a yearlong “on-ramp” to adjust, but the grace period ended this week.

270 

Loans may default after 270 days without repayment. Default takes a big bite out of a borrower’s credit score, and in some cases the lender could garnish wages, tax refunds or Social Security benefits. Default can also make a borrower ineligible for benefits like student loan deferment and future student aid.

$1.59 trillion 

Nearly 43 million U.S. borrowers owed a collective $1.59 trillion in student debt as of June.

29% 

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office found 29% of student loan borrowers were past due on their payments.

8 million    

That’s the number of people who signed up for new SAVE plans, which would reduce monthly payments for many borrowers to 5% of their discretionary income. However, these plans are still working their way through the courts.

None of us is as smart as all of us

Tell us what’s making you smarter at smarter@marketplace.org. We’d love to include your recommendation in a future newsletter.

How big is too big?

The grocery industry is more concentrated than ever, which is why the Federal Trade Commission and several states want to block Kroger’s proposed merger with rival supermarket chain Albertsons. Regulators are concerned less competition drives up food prices, even as inflation cools off. Editor Tony Wagner recommends a Washington Post interactive map showing how just a few retailers have divided up the United States.

The fentanyl express

America’s online shopping addiction may be unwittingly helping fuel fentanyl trade. The same loophole that allows Shein to export cheap clothing to the U.S. enables drug traffickers to ship fentanyl ingredients from China. Host Kimberly Adams is reading a Reuters investigation into the global chemical trade behind the opioid crisis. Reporters were able to buy everything needed to make $3 million worth of fentanyl for just $3,600.

Bold, but risky

Not hearing back about your job applications? Recruiters’ inboxes are so inundated, some career coaches are recommending job seekers reach out directly to the CEO to get noticed. Writer Ellen Rolfes is reading a Business Insider article about when and how to effectively use this tactic.