Florida Builders Continue to Leads Hurricane Recovery Efforts - 9/27/2004 - Real Estate House Home Condo

Florida Builders Continue to Leads Hurricane Recovery Efforts

In a collaborative effort on Sept. 19 between the Florida Home Builders Association and the Charlotte Builders and Contractors Association, nearly 1,000 residents of Port Charlotte received critical information from builders and governmental agencies on rebuilding their homes and lives.

On hand for the one-day “OPERATION REBUILD: Building Florida Back Better” construction fair were local building officials, FEMA, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Florida Department of Financial Services, the Institute for Business and Home Safety, FLASH and representatives from home builders associations.

Local citizens received model contracts, licensure information, lists of available contractors, building code information and much more at the free event. Helping to make the fair a success were the Collier Building Industry Association, Lee BIA, the Home Builders Association of Manatee County and the HBA of Sarasota County.

“All day long, we were able to take that dazed, confused, sometimes angry home owner and send them off with head and hands full of information, and a new found optimism that things will get better,” said Mike Hickman, president of the state home builders association.

Hickman said that OPERATION BUILD will next be held in Polk County and then travel to the state’s east coast and panhandle.

The state association is a partner in the Disaster Contractors Network, which is a key information resource for contractors and home owners involved in hurricane clean-up activities.

Initial FEMA reports of the damage from Hurricane Ivan estimated that 50%-75% of the structures along the coastline in Florida’s Escambia County were severely damaged or destroyed, leaving roughly 20,000 residents at least temporarily homeless.

Disaster declarations for federal assistance were issued for 32 counties in Alabama, 23 counties in Mississippi and 13 parishes in Louisiana. Ivan’s path of destruction extended northward, bringing high winds, heavy rains and tornadoes. Disaster areas were also declared in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

Floridians were only beginning to assess damage from a fourth storm to make landfall — Huricane Jeanne — as this issue of NBN went to press.