Hurricane Sandy made landfall about 8 p.m. EDT Oct. 29, striking the eastern seaboard where many NPCA members are located. Rated one of the costliest natural disasters on record for the U.S., Sandy’s hurricane-force winds reached at least 74 mph – higher in some areas – and extended out up to 175 miles from its center.
Photo credit: National Weather Service
By Oct. 31, 8.5 million people were still without electricity in 15 states, and gas stations were forced to close due to power shortages. Reduced fuel supplies are still an issue that remains in some areas.
We called some of our eastern-most members to see how they were doing. Thankfully, most of the members we contacted were faring well, considering the circumstances. Many experienced no power for a day and some up to three days, which stopped production and deliveries during that time.
Faddis Concrete Products in King George, Va., lost production at three out of six plants due to power outages. Roman Stone Construction Co. in Bay Shore, N.Y., on Long Island, closed for one day but is now “full speed ahead.”
Oldcastle Precast in Middle Island, N.Y., also on Long Island, didn’t sustain any major damage because the plant is inland and sits on a hill. According to George Schramm, general manager, “we had a couple bleeps in the power, but we’re OK. A lot of our contractors are down by the shoreline, though. They got hammered.” Schramm said that the main result of the storms for his plant is a work slowdown while the region cleans up after the hurricane and the subsequent Nor’easter.
Garden State Precast Inc. in Farmingdale, N.J., is located about five miles from the Atlantic Ocean at the point where Hurricane Sandy struck with its full force. Nine days after the hurricane, the Nor’easter blew in 12 inches of snow to compound the problems.
Kirby O’Malley, president, is looking at the big picture. “We lost power for over a week. We lost the roof on one of our buildings and some minor other stuff, but nobody lost any family members.”
While the plant made it through the storms, some Garden State employees who live on the outer islands were less fortunate. “We had quite a few guys who are displaced. Some of them lost everything,” O’Malley said, “but we’ve got to be positive about it. Fortunately none of them or their family members were injured.”
“We’re doing OK. Everybody is helping each other here. We’re precasters, which means we’re pretty tough.”
Was your plant or your employees affected by the recent storms? Share your story below and let us know how NPCA members can help.
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