Gulf Coast Construction Is Slowed by a Housing Nightmare 9/4/2006
A year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, progress is being made in the massive reconstruction effort. On critical infrastructure and economic projects, the pace seems to be limited only by the number of skilled people available to do the work. That refrain is being echoed around the U.S. on other projects, but nowhere else are the ramifications more important—health, safety and economic recovery for an entire region.
That presents an opportunity for the nation and industry that appears only about once in a generation—the mobilization of a citizen army to build rather than destroy. It will take a joint operation of the public and private sectors to accomplish the mission. Some portions now are in the works, but others still need to be resolved.