This story was updated on Sept. 13.
Hurricane Irma appears to have inflicted less physical damage on Florida’s building material dealers than Hurricane Harvey did to LBM operations in Texas, reports today indicate. Here’s a roundup:
* BMC, which has one location in Florida and eight in south Georgia, said its facilities sustained only minor damage and will be shipping from all locations no later than by the end of this week.
* None of the locations owned by US LBM suffered any significant damage, a company spokesperson said. Several locations have already reopened, with the remaining locations waiting for power to be restored. “We expect all our locations to reopen by the end of the week,” the company official said.
* American Builders Supply, which has 10 locations in the state, “all got through the storm with minimal damage,” CEO Bill Myrick reported. “Of our 10 locations, eight will be open for business tomorrow (Sept. 13).”
* Tibbetts Lumber suffered some damage to about 20 feet of a lumber shed in its Fort Myers facility. “We also had a few leaks in a few of our roofs, but the main issues we are dealing with across the state are power and flooding,” Executive Chairman Kyle Hooker reported. “Many of our delivery areas are flooded and power is very spotty throughout the state but we are back in business today to the extent that we can be.”
* Manning Building Supplies’ Jacksonville truss plant had its offices floded and it lost some roof panels, while the company’s Jacksonville yard had two large overhead doors blown in. “We are operational at all locations and will be back to full speed around the state in the next day or so,” company President Jimmy Cissel said.
* In Naples, near where Irma first made landfall after passing through the Florida Keys, Kimal Lumber lost a tree at its main yard and some roof panels at its Nokomis branch, “but we’re safe,” the store’s Allen Bavry said.
* “Minimal structural damage” was the worst that happened to Builders FirstSource operations in the Sunshine State, COO Chad Crow reported. Again, lack of electrical power was the main issue.
* In central Florida north of Orlando, in Leesburg, Ro-Mac Lumber & Supply had minor damage, CEO Don Magruder said.
AIR Worldwide, a risk modeling specialist, predicted on Sept. 11 that Irma will have inflicted between $20 billion and $40 billion worth of damage to all properties in all states that it hits during its lifespan.
