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Mississippi Contractors Recovering and
Finding Work
Mississippi contractors scramble
to find housing, child care and basic needs for their employees
but the state has plenty of work for firms able to do it
By Mary Buckner Powers
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The Grand
Casino Hotel in Biloxi was slammed with a wall of water
almost 30 feet high.
Photo by Keith Porter of SUNY Buffalo |
Despite the differences between the contracting situations
in Louisiana and Mississippi, contractors in both states share
a similar plight. They've lost offices, equipment and employees.
"It's unusual to speak with anyone who did not have any
damage," says Danny Guice, AGC's Gulf Coast manager.
J.W. Puckett & Co., Gulfport, Miss., lost its office
and was forced to operate from a temporary location for more
than a month. The namesake of Dan Hensarling Inc., also of
Gulfport, lost his house as did other family members running
the company.
Some Hensarling employees were forced to place housing trailers
on company property because their own land was uninhabitable,
Guice says. At one point, three Hensarling families were living
out of the office, he says.
The loss of housing was not limited to managers and owners.
Compton's Heating and Air of Gulfport had 75 employees before
Katrina, but lost 40 workers to displacement, Guice says.
Farther east in Pascagoula, Katrina heavily damaged the office
of Stewart Construction Co. Inc. and Tim Stewart's home, as
well as the homes of his employees. The office was 1 to 2
ft deep in water, rendering it unusable until all of the drywall
was stripped, Guice says.
Many employees were forced from their homes and temporary
housing trailers were set up on company property, he says.
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A casino
barge in Biloxi, Miss., destroyed and thrown ashore by
the storm surge. The casinos will now be allowed on land,
creating a huge construction boom in the area.
top photo by Gilberto Mosqueda, SUNY Buffalo |
All local contracting companies lost materials, office space
or equipment to some degree. George P. Hopkins Inc., an area
general contractor, was particularly hard hit. Its office
suffered heavy water damage, company President George Hopkins
III lost his house and the company lost every vehicle but
one, Guice says.
Roy Anderson Corp., Gulfport, the largest general contractor
in southern Mississippi, shared in the Katrina misery. "Everyone
from the CEO to craftsmen lost their homes or had damage,"
says Don Roberts, vice president.
The company's displaced employees turned to the corporate
office several miles inland for shelter. "For several
weeks, we had people staying in the office," Roberts
said. "It had large generators, bottled water and fuel
handy. At one point, we had 25 people living there."
At least 20 families affiliated with the company lost their
homes and many employees whose houses survived have taken
in families of displaced co-workers. Some families decided
to leave the area permanently, but the company was able to
fill the positions, Roberts says.
As employees found shelter, the company faced an unexpected
problem as it resumed operations-child care. It was a critical
need because many employees could not return to work until
they had child care. "We had to hire two people and convert
a conference room into a day-care center," Roberts says.
While the corporate headquarters fared well, a warehouse
took damage and materials, supplies and equipment on jobsites
along U.S. Highway 90 were lost. One of the steps in recovering
jobsites was removing damaged materials and debris from projects,
Roberts says.
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The Bay St.
Louis Bridge of U.S. 90 was destroyed by the storm surge.
All spans were missing along with some pilings. The construction
of a new, taller bridge currently is up for bid.
photo by Michael Powers |
The company could take the first critical steps of immediately
placing people and equipment on jobsites because it had avoided
the crippling fuel shortage that struck the region. It had
secured a supply before the storm by making arrangements with
a local fuel company, Roberts adds.
Roy Anderson was putting the finishing touches on a major
casino and hotel, but Mother Nature had other plans. "The
storm surge essentially demolished the Hard Rock casino and
damaged the first levels of the adjacent hotel," Roberts
says.
The high watermark in the hotel is 4 ft above the second
floor, remarkable considering that the first floor is 22 ft
tall.
"We've started back at a number of sites where the owner
has authorized us to go forward," Roberts says. But situations
are highly variable based on the circumstances of the owner.
The firm is engaged in multiple, locally owned recovery projects.
"At the Pass Christian schools and Harrison County
schools, we are performing temporary repairs necessary to
get the kids back in school," Roberts says.
The company, which has 300 of its own people and 800 from
subcontractors deployed along the Mississippi coast, has not
pursued work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency
for debris removal or housing contracts. Its hands are full
with meeting the needs of existing contracts and long-standing
customers, Roberts says.
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Little remains
of a residential neighborhood in Waveland, Miss. The area
was completely
leveled by a storm surge, leaving mostly unrecognizable
debris behind.
photo by Michael Powers |
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