Phillips Gears Up After The Storms

11-01-2005
The devastating hurricanes of Katrina, Rita and even Wilma left the country in disarray. Homes were destroyed, businesses shut down, people left homeless and in need of assistance. Reconstruction and remodeling rates have jumped up in the storm coast area and will continue to rise once New Orleans begins reconstruction (recent press release noted New Orleans is still in clean up phase). As well as donating to the American Red Cross to help displaced families, Phillips took action to help its customers after the storms. Phillips has stepped up in a variety of ways to better serve its customers in the storm coast area. Phillips wants to ensure its products get to those who need it for the rebuilding of New Orleans and other affected areas.

Capacity Utilization
Phillips ramped up production after the storms to meet increased demand and has increased capacity utilization.

Vinyl and Paper Faced Expansion
Phillips has recently invested in expansion and enhancement of its vinyl and paper faced production facilities. Capacity has significantly grown with this expansion and lead times for these products are shorter.

New Orleans Logistics
New Orleans is still in the clean up phase and navigating around the city is no easy task. Bourbon street is back to being fully functional; however, outside of the French Quarter in the residential areas that were hit hard by Katrina, devastation is still very apparent. According to a recent article, nearly 284,000 homes were destroyed in New Orleans and hurricane Katrina devastated 23,000 acres. There is more debris than the area can handle. Dump trucks come periodically to take a load of debris to a former city park which is now a heap of rubbish several football fields long, towering far above the head. All of the debris, missing road signs, chaos and destruction make navigating around the city a difficult task.

Planning for the Future
Many residents, community leaders, architects, planners and environmental leaders met recently to compile a list of rebuilding recommendations which they will present to Mayor Ray Nagin’s Bring New Orleans Back Commission, Governor Kathleen Blanco’s Louisiana Recovery Authority and congressional leaders. “I look at these two days as an investment in the future” John MacLachlan, director for the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier universities, said of the conference co-hosted by the CBR on the Loyola University campus.
Once reconstruction begins in New Orleans it is going to be a long drawn out process which will take years to complete. Phillips plans on being there every step of the way.

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