Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.bonus,americast.usa-today.bonus From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: bonus Thu, Aug 27 1992 Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 05:59:07 EDT Message-ID: 08-27 0000 BONUS: Firms struggle after hurricane USA TODAY Update Aug. 27, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Al Vihlidal stands in the middle of his business, Eagle Crest Nursery, in Cutler Ridge, Fla., near one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Andrew. Vihlidal sells palm trees. They lay around him, broken to bits. His three employees all came to work. "We're cutting trees and cleaning everything up," he says. He expects damage to his nursery to reach $300,000, but he says he has insurance. He'll make it. He may even get a boost, because every homeowner in the area will have to relandscape. HOW ARE OTHERS FARING? Lynn Roberts may not be so lucky. The owner of The Parent News monthly newspaper says just three of seven employees have shown for work. Of four delivery people, none is working - two had homes destroyed, two have yet to check in. Phones are down, so she can't reach advertisers. "We're anticipating real setbacks," she says. HOW HAS ANDREW HURT BUSINESS? The hurricane that crashed through south Florida this week has made a tossed salad out of the region's business and financial life. As people trickle back to work, they're finding everything from devastation and a bleak future to dawning opportunity. At the very least, telephones are down, employees are absent and some roads are impassable, making it tough to carry out the basics of business. "There will be a large loss of wealth" in south Florida's businesses, says John Godfrey, chief economist of Jacksonville-based Barnett Banks. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER HUGO? A study in South Carolina after Hurricane Hugo in 1989 found that businesses were reimbursed about 80% of their property losses. "But there's also the loss and interruption of business - time down when you're not making sales and are losing income," Godfrey says. "It will do a lot of businesses in." At the Cutler Ridge Mall in Cutler Ridge, commerce has screeched to a halt. The "S" was blown off the Sears sign, so it just says, "ears." The parking lot is a lake. ARE FOLKS BACK AT WORK? At the mall's Mervyn's store, manager Paul Cox had been on the job only three days when Andrew hit. He has 85 employees. He's tried to call them all. Partly because of the region's crashed telephone system, Cox could get through only to three. Those he told, "Take care of your life. Don't bother coming to work." He adds, "This is a pretty dire situation." HOW ARE BUSINESSES COPING? Even businesses that have reopened are faced with difficulties. An Eckerd drugstore on the edge of the worst-hit area is open, thanks to a generator powering a few lights and a cash register. Assistant manager Angel Guitierrez says he couldn't call his employees, so he went house to house to tell them to come to work. Next door, the Publix supermarket was open even though half of its goods - mostly perishables - were lost. Clerks used hand calculators to ring up sales. IS ANYONE THRIVING? Home Depot home-supply stores are facing a different kind of challenge - a crush of customers. Most of the chain's stores in the region are handing out numbers to people wanting to buy $500 generators. In a parking lot near one Home Depot store in Miami, one person is selling similar generators off a flatbed truck for $4,000 each. CAN PEOPLE USE PHONES? The most pervasive problem for businesses is communications. In many areas, all telecommunications are down. In Dade County, it's almost impossible to get long-distance calls in or out of the region's jammed circuits. Cellular phones are only a minor help. In some areas, cellular towers are down, so the phones don't work at all. Where they do work, callers can make local calls - but, again, long-distance is a joke. The best bet: pay phones. But for every pay phone left standing, there's a line 10 people deep waiting. WHAT ARE INSURERS DOING? Walgreen's, a Chicago-based drugstore chain, has reopened seven of its 17 South Miami stores, but the home office can't get through to any of its other stores. The army of 1,500 insurance adjusters that have descended on the region need telecommunications. At the Boca Raton Holiday Inn, Patricia Libby is setting up each of 107 adjusters with a cellular phone and pager. That's just to keep in touch with the home office. A bigger problem is reaching customers. Most of those who need insurance help don't have phones that work. WHAT ARE PHONE FIRMS DOING? Of course, the telephone problems create some opportunities. Cellular phone-rental firms are swamped with calls from news reporters, insurance people and residents. "All I've done for the past three days is rent cellular phones to insurance adjusters," says Teresa Delatorre of In Touch USA. "It's been crazy. I'm working 7 a.m. to midnight." HOW WILL CONSTRUCTION DO? Another big near-term winner will be the construction industry. The storm destroyed an estimated 63,000 homes and did an estimated $20 billion worth of damage. The roads are already clogged with debris-removal trucks, construction company vans, trucks pulling backhoes. Says Jerry Orenchak, who owns a small local construction firm: "Business is great. We've got more work than we can handle." In fact, Godfrey says South Carolina had a nearly 9% increase in employment after Hugo, almost all in construction jobs. He expects a similar surge in South Florida. WHAT COMES FIRST? Home Depot isn't only gearing up to sell generators. "We're seeing runs on roofing materials now because there are miles and miles of houses without roofs," says Bryant Scott, a vice president of Home Depot's southern division. "Then people get to painting houses. Then landscaping." The region's tourism industry is swinging into action, too - mostly to quickly rebuild and put a spin on the fall and winter tourist season. Local tourism offices have placed ads prepared weeks ago in newspapers. One says, "We're still open!" CAN PEOPLE GET MONEY? "Tourism runs Florida, and the state realizes tourism is its bread and butter," says Bill Dodd of the American Automobile Association's Florida office. No matter what, people are finding ways around problems caused by Andrew. Cash is in short supply. Most automatic teller machines don't work. But Greg Graham, who lives in Southwood, says neighbors are bartering services. "I have a gas stove, so neighbors come to cook at my place," he says. "Another has a generator, so he runs power for some folks." HAVE MANY JOBS BEEN LOST? At a Kids R Us store destroyed in Dade County, regional manager Tony Benedict says he's trying to help the store's 25 employees find jobs at other Kids R Us locations. "We'll try to employ as many as we can," he says. "The rest will be laid off until we can rebuild." Bonus Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM