Hard times for the big easy.

Some images leave a scar: Hiroshima, the World Trade Center and now, New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina vanquished more than a century of civilization in a matter of hours. The painfully sobering news videos of the ravaged city left 80 percent underwater illustrated the magnitude of Katrina's fury and hinted at the struggles of its survivors.

The numbers of lives lost to Katrina are projected to be in the thousands, perhaps even the tens of thousands. The hundreds of thousands of survivors in southern Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi have suffered a Ere-changing experience. Many have Lost family and friends. Many more have lost their homes and worldly possessions, including irreplaceable mementos. Many have lost their jobs.

Assessing the Damage

Four days after Katrina wreaked its wrath, economists for the National Association of Home Builders issued a report in which they observed, "(T)he number of homes destroyed by this catastrophe is almost certain to dwarf the tosses from any previous U.S. natural disaster ... Although the floods generally did not tear off roofs or watts or cause structures to collapse, many homes will be permanently uninhabitable. The floodwaters carded contaminants that cannot easily be removed, and even if the water were clean, prolonged submersion would cause structures to be damaged beyond repair. This is likely to be the fate of a Large share of the more than 200,000 homes in the city of New Orleans."

In comparison, the report stated Hurricane Andrew in 1992 destroyed more than 28,000 housing units and the combined effect of Hurricanes Jeanne, Ivan, Frances and Charley in 2004 wiped out nearly 27,500 housing units.

The NAHB's report noted that rebuilding New Orleans would be a slow, painful process. "Of necessity, rebuilding will have to wait. The immediate need will be to dean up and repair damage to structures that are still viable. The repair process will absorb much of the construction labor near the affected area and several. key materials that would otherwise have been used to build new homes."

Rallying Relief

With floodwaters stilt slowly receding, Congress approved $51 billion in aid to the battered region and offered to supply $2,000 debit cards to Hurricane Katrina victims.

Various wood-related associations and companies were quick to rally relief efforts of their own. A quick Google search located dozens of wood industry Web sites with links to the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations. Many companies reported making charitable donations. Therma-Tru Doors, for example, pledged to donate "significant" funds to the American Red Cross that would have been spent to exhibit at the Association of Millwork Distributors annual convention and trade show. The AMD cancelled the event scheduled for Oct. 6-11 in New Orleans.

Some relief efforts have been more direct. The owners of Custom Crafted Counters of Summerdale, AL put down their fabricating toots and picked up spatulas to help feed emergency rescue workers. Phoenix-based Premier Garage redirected one of its four delivery semi-trucks to send food and clothing from a local charity, plus equipment to be used in the cleanup, to the blighted area.

Two of the most intriguing relief programs were initiated by the Architectural Woodwork Institute and the Cabinet Makers Assn. Each of the groups has contacted its member companies, asking them if they would be witting to provide jobs, housing or both for Katrina-displaced woodworkers. CMA President Charles Wilson said the number of woodworkers who lost jobs in the beleaguered area could run as high as 15,000.

Within a week of soliciting participants for its Hurricane Katrina relief program, AWI Executive Vice President Judy Durham reported that the association had received more than 30 offers of help. "These offers vary from employment opportunities to housing, shop space, equipment and moving assistance. It is truly heartwarming the response our members have extended to their fellow manufacturers," Durham said.

Katrina Tales Sought

Approximately 800 subscribers of Wood & Wood Products and sister publications, Custom Woodworking Business and CLOSETS, will not receive this issue. By order of the U.S. Postal Service, magazines and periodicals will not be delivered until further notice.

New Assistant Editor Andy Jenkins attempted to call three of the Larger W&WP readers in the affected area to learn each company's fate. He was only able to make contact with Standard Furniture, which operates two plants in southwestern Alabama. (See story on page 15.)

Meanwhile, Graphics Editor Sandi Stevenson randomly placed calls to 43 CWB subscribers in the magazine no-zone and was only able to reach six of them. in the 37 other instances, she got a repeated busy signal, a phone ringing off the hook or a recorded message telling her that her call could not be completed as dialed. (Stevenson's story was published in the September issue of CWB and posted on Industry News at www.iswonline.com)

In the months to come, we plan more reports about Hurricane Katrina's impact and the rebuilding of a great city. To assist our efforts, we welcome readers to share their stories about how Hurricane Katrina has affected their business or what they are doing to help its victims.

We commend art of the associations, companies and individuals that have contributed to the relief effort and urge all others to do the same.