Contractors Pitch in to Help After Hurricane Harvey
Contractors in south Texas are helping emergency crews clear roads and restore services to storm-battered towns along the Gulf Coast, despite widespread damage to many of their own homes and businesses, says Amy Lee, executive director of the South Texas Chapter of the Associated General Contractors in Corpus Christi. “We have about 90% of the power back on in Corpus,” she says.
But some coastal towns such as Port Aransas and Rockport, where the storm first made landfall, “had only about 20% of their power back” as of Labor Day weekend, Lee said on Sept. 5. Although the main roads are passable, utility poles are splintered and down all along the coast, and generators are supplying most of the power to the few businesses that are open. Lee says that she has not yet polled her members to determine the extent of damage to their own operations. “But we will rebuild stronger,” she adds.