Logging trucks helping with hurricane cleanups
Dozens of logging trucks from northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan have headed to Texas and Florida to aid in cleanup and recovery in hurricane-ravaged areas.
The trucks, outfitted with telescoping arms that have giant metal claws, are designed to lift, load and haul 3,000pound logs. The trucks also do a fine job clawing, loading and hauling hurricane debris, said Henry Schienebeck, executive director of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association, based in Rhinelander.
“We’ve got members who are down there now, and they figure they aren’t going to be back until sometime in April or May,” said Schienebeck, whose industry is among several that have been, or may be, called on to aid in the hurricane recovery efforts. “They just have tons and tons of stuff to move
down there.
“There are a lot of log trucks from Wisconsin and Michigan headed down to Florida,” he added. “The guys who are going down there ... I’m glad they can be of service to try to help those people get back on their feet a little bit faster.”
Schienebeck said he knows of at least 40 to 50 trucks from GLTPA members that were sent to hurricane-damaged areas.
The loggers are paid for each yard of debris they clear and haul to landfills.
Max Ericson, owner of Ericson Logging Inc. in Minong, said one of his trucks is headed to Texas this week “to help clean up the mess.”
His truck will join crews from another GLTPA member who are already clearing debris in Texas and said they could use more help.
“They’ll be running seven days a week, 12 hours a day, the way they’re talking,” Ericson said. “One of our young drivers is going.”
Schienebeck said a friend of his also is working in Texas with a logging truck.
“I talked to him and he said, ‘You pull in there and everything looks normal. But then you see that all the stuff from the houses is on the curb,’” Schienebeck said. “So they have to pick all that up and haul it, then they have to come back, and they have to tear the house down because the water was up to the second floor.”
The remains of the houses have to then be hauled away.
Eventually, those houses will need to be repaired or rebuilt.
Central and northern Wisconsin are likely to play a role in that process, too.
That region of the state is home to a large concentration of door, window and other construction material manufacturers.
A check with several of those companies shows they are carefully watching the situation, but as of now really don’t have much of an idea how their business might be affected.
At this point, “there’s not even any reliable count,” of how many buildings were damaged or destroyed across Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, said Michael O’Brien, president and CEO of the Window and Door Manufacturers Association, a trade group with offices in Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
“We’ve never had three (major hurricanes) right in a row,” hit the U.S. and/or its territories, he added. “It’s going to be months” before the full extent of the damage is tallied, he said.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on Aug. 25. Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida on Sept. 10. Then, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20. All three storms were considered major hurricanes with estimated wind speeds of 130 to 156 mph.
Hurricane resistant windows made here
Among the window and door manufacturers in Wisconsin is Weather Shield, a third-generation family-owned and operated company based in Medford.
Right now, the company has no way to know what effect the storms may have on business.
“First, insurance companies need to assess these homes. Then contractors, who are in very short supply, will need to work through their mounting backlog of work,” Chris Schield, vice president of marketing at Weather Shield Windows & Doors, said in an email. “It’s not until several months after a natural disaster, such as with Hurricane Sandy in 2012, that our business may see an uptick.”
The company has products that meet South Florida’s hurricane building codes — among the toughest in the nation. Among the company’s products are windows designed to withstand winds of 140 mph.
“Hurricane impact-rated windows and doors are designed to perform ... against wind, driving rain and windborne debris,” Schield said. “There’s a significant amount of debris in the air when a hurricane of any magnitude reaches landfall.”
Hurricane impact-resistant windows also play a role in keeping buildings intact in hurricane-force winds.
Such windows are “designed to maintain normal pressure in the home,” Schield said. “That’s very important because when a window or door is compromised during a hurricane, pressure within the home can increase. That can cause the roof to detach from the home, resulting in significant damage.”
‘Running wide open’
Still, other sites in Wisconsin could play a role in the hurricane recovery process.
LP Building Products, also known as Louisiana-Pacific Corp., makes siding at a plant in Tomahawk and siding and oriented strand board at a plant in Hayward.
“We’re certainly keeping a close watch on the construction markets in Florida and Texas,” said Mark Morrison, a spokesman for Nashville, Tenn.-based LP.
Whether there will be a direct uptick in business from the hurricanes is hard to say, Morrison said. LP operates five siding mills in the U.S. and two in Canada. Production is shifted to the various plants based on demand.
“Certainly our LP operations in Hayward and Tomahawk both play a vital role in helping us meet customer demand,” Morrison said.
“But here’s the thing: They’ve already been busy,” Morrison said. “Both of those mills ... were running wide open prior to when the hurricanes hit.”
Together, the plants employ about 400 people.
The storm damage recovery may have other consequences, Morrison said.
“We anticipate construction labor and other building-related resources being drawn into the rebuilding effort, which is going to result in a reduction, we believe, of available labor for new home construction,” Morrison said. “We’re certainly keeping a close eye on it.”
“There are a lot of log trucks from Wisconsin and Michigan headed down to Florida. The guys who are going down there ... I’m glad they can be of service to try to help those people get back on their feet a little bit faster.”
HENRY SCHIENEBECK EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GREAT LAKES TIMBER PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION