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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK BUSINESS, Page 17The Two Edges Of Andrew's Sword
Unemployed workers flock to Florida for work, but the task is
daunting
Hurricane Andrew may have been the most costly natural disaster
in U.S. history, but it has triggered a modern American gold
rush. Carpenters and contractors from as far away as Alaska are
heading south to Florida to mine a $20 billion bonanza in
reconstruction and cleanup work. "I traded in my high heels for
steel toes [construction shoes] and headed down here a few
days after the storm," said Roberta Heiberg, an estimator for
an Arlington, Virginia, contracting firm. She got a Florida
contractor's license in one day, advertised with a sign in her
Holiday Inn window and made her first six hires from people
staying in the same hotel. After two weeks she's bidding for 20
to 30 projects a day and may move down to Miami. "We'll be
working at least five years," she predicted.
An estimated 1,000 contractors and subcontractors are
expected to move into Dade County to rebuild and repair the
117,000 homes, nine public schools, 59 hospitals and health-care
facilities, countless malls and a couple of city halls destroyed
or damaged by Andrew. So large is the task that Dade County's
economic development agency is calling for a "mini Marshall
Plan."
Despite the construction boom, Dade County's economy still
staggers under Andrew's blow. Unemployment is rising into the
double digits, business activity has declined sharply, and
aggregate personal income is way off. Southern Dade depended
largely on agriculture and Homestead Air Force Base, both
devastated by the hurricane. About 80% of the area's farms were
damaged, and losses to the foliage industry, vegetable crops and
tropical orchards top $400 million. The winter vegetable crop,
which supplies half the U.S. market, is in danger too because
of saline groundwater. Last week the Senate Appropriations
Committee refused to approve Bush's request of $480 million to
reconstruct the air base as part of a $7.6 billion aid package.
Unless that is restored, there'll be no hammering at Homestead.