HURRICANE IRMA
DISASTER STRIKES
Now the rebuilding begins
Florida Construction Report staff writer
As Florida digs out from Hurricane
Irma’s devastation, there are stories of
how contractors, architects, engi-
neers, suppliers, and professional ser-
vice providers took immediate action
during the crisis to help their commu-
nities survive – and indications of how
they will help with the longer-term re-
covery. As an example, Advanced Masonry
Systems (AMS) in Sarasota opened its
15,000 sq. ft. office/warehouse to 15
families who needed shelter, housing
more than 60 people.

“All was good until the wind blew
the roof membrane off half of the
building and water started coming in,”
said AMS principal Ron Karp.

“Everyone reacted calmly and
moved to the front of the building to
escape the water,” he said. “At the
end of the day, nobody was hurt and
everyone went home safely.”
“Now that everything has calmed
down, our vendors such as HP Supply
and L&W, are helping us to obtain the
materials we need to make temporary
roof repairs. Work to get things back
to normal is now ongoing – all is
good.” Steve Cona III, president and CEO
of the Associated Builders and Con-
tractors Florida Gulf Coast Chapter,
noted that the storm affected differ-
ent parts of the state with differing
severity. “Polk County and Southwest
Florida were the hardest hit,” he said,
and the Tampa Bay area was largely
spared. (The storm certainly caused
extreme damage in the Florida Keys.)
Cona said the most urgent imme-
diate priorities and needs are “power
and supplies.”
“ABC members always stand ready
to help rebuild communities they
serve,” he said.

The shortage of gas and man-
power is affecting contractors who
weren’t directly hit by the storm. “I
also checked on our project sites, and
although we didn’t have any damage,
the hurricane has cost us and our
clients timely delays and shortage of
gas and manpower,” said Maria
Ehrlich, marketing director at Focus
Development in Tampa.

“Our Naples office had to evacuate
and has been working remotely due to
power outages at home and office,”
said Kalley Willis from insurance spe-
cialist law firm Saxe Doernberger &
Vita, PC.

“As always, our most urgent priori-
ties and needs are service to our
clients and ensuring that deadlines
are not missed due to downtime or
travel delay,” she wrote. “Our team
has already begun the discussion of
rebuilding and how we might offer our
services to assist others. We are in
the process of developing a pro bono
plan that will allow us to advise on the
various insurance coverage issues
that property owners will likely face
due to Hurricane Irma.

Some contractors with multi-
branch locations outside of Florida are
preparing to marshal resources for the
rebuilding process. A news release
from Western Speciality Contractors
says its branches in Florida, Texas and
Georgia serve as staging locations for
Gulf Coast disaster recovery services.

It says the company has been helping
companies recover from natural disas-
ters on the Gulf Coast for more than
50 years.

“Bringing a building or structure
back to life in the case of a natural dis-
aster takes a certain level of experi-
ence and skill,” said Chester Scott,
branch manager of Western’s Atlanta,
GA branch. “Special skills are needed
to properly assess the damage, de-
velop a recovery plan and initiate the
restoration or take steps to mitigate
further loss.”
Florida Construction News wel-
comes your stories about how you ex-
perienced and survived the storm, and
how you are adapting your business
to facilitate the recovery. You can com-
municate your stories and photos to
Mark Buckshon at buckshon@florida-
constructionnews.com. Florida Construction News — FALL 2017 – 11