Rebuilding Dixie

But the practical problems of harvesting the downed trees may end up frustrating much of the salvage effort. Many roads are still damaged or blocked, some areas are still without power, and there's the potentially crippling problem of record high fuel prices—logging trucks get barely one mile per gallon on back roads, and just five MPG on the highway.

“If you can't pay your fuel bill, you're not going to be hauling wood,” says Grace. “We'd all like to help get this wood out, help the landowners establish some value for the forest that they were growing. But the challenge is going to be: Can we afford to do it?” For now, human problems are trumping the materials issue. “It's going to be months and years, but the region recovered from [Hurricane] Camille, and people will recover from this, too.”

Some trees, however, will not fully recover. “We'll be sawing stands of trees five or 10 years from now that are still going to show damage from this storm,” says Grace.

The hurricanes have also taken their toll on structural panel production. As of early October, two Louisiana-Pacific OSB plants near the Gulf were still sitting idle, their power knocked out by the back-to-back storms.

Cement: In the desperately tight U.S. cement market—32 states were reporting spot shortages of cement even before the storms—Hurricane Katrina has torqued the screws down a few notches tighter. The United States now imports 25 percent of its record-high cement consumption, and about a tenth of those imports have been flowing through the now-crippled port of New Orleans. Exactly where and how the cement moves to reach concrete mix plants in-country is not so clear; but a considerable amount has always gone up the Mississippi River by barge, a route that for now is partially blocked. According to Portland Cement Association economist Ed Sullivan, southern regions that rely more on river traffic may experience a 5 percent curtailment in supply; the national effect will be much slighter.

On the other hand, cement demand in the South will lag for six months or more while devastated regions clean up. It's next year, and the year after, that markets may really get tight, says Sullivan: That's when millions of tons of cement will be needed for rebuilding in the South, including the public works, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities of New Orleans

Gypsum board: Supplies of gypsum products such as drywall, tight nationally for years, will be very tight locally in the affected region as repair and rebuilding ramp up. Some production facilities in the area, such as U.S. Gypsum's 40-year-old New Orleans drywall factory, were directly knocked out by the storm and will take time to come back on line. Nationally, tight markets in wallboard are expected to continue. Although the industry's output has surged, nearly doubling in 10 years, plants around the nation are still operating at 90 percent capacity or higher.

Energy: The sharpest effect of the one-two Katrina-Rita punch was on petroleum. As of Oct. 3, 11 Gulf Coast refineries were still out of action, either because of storm damage or because they still had no electric power. The 3 million barrel per day shortfall pushed motor fuel prices skyward. Tight supplies are expected to continue through the winter, pushing up builders' own direct costs as well as the costs of all building materials. Most sensitive to oil and natural gas prices are the products made out of oil and gas, such as asphalt, PVC pipe, and plastic insulation. But upward pressure from fuel prices on shipping costs will ripple through every supplier industry, eventually taking a serious bite out of builder margins.

There are many industry businesses helping in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The following efforts are those BUILDER had learned about by press time:

CLEARING OUT: Soaked insulation, dry-wall, and furnishings sit on the curb in front of a model home (above) at Southern Homes' partially completed Spring Hill neighborhood in Slidell, La. Standing in front of the house are (left to right) Spring Hill builder Kraemer Pittari, Southern Homes founder Adrian Kornman, and company vice president Chris Kornman. Wind damage to the neighborhood was minor, but storm-surge flooding ruined most of the community's ground-floor interiors (right). Subs on the site have stayed busy tearing out wet interiors, says Chris Kornman. The company has a long waiting list for repair work and new-home sales.

If your company has been involved in any post-hurricane relief efforts, BUILDER would like to know about it. Please e-mail your press releases to dleopold@hanleywood.com.