Houston’s businesses inching back to work as waters recede
Bobby Jucker has had it with hurricanes.
In 2008, Hurricane Ike tore the roof off his business, Three Brothers Bakery. Now, he estimates, he’s facing US$1 million in damage and lost revenue from Harvey — the fifth time a storm has put his bakery out of commission.
He’s always recovered before. But this time, he wears the weary countenance of a man nearly broken.
“This is the last time for me,” he says. “It’s emotionally draining. I just can’t do it any more.”
More than a week after Harvey poured more than 1.2 metres of rain on Houston, killing at least 65 people, destroying thousands of cars and leaving hundreds of thousands of families with flood-damaged homes, America’s fourth-biggest city is striving to reopen for business.
Houston’s airports and shipping lanes reopened to limited traffic last week. Some workers returned to their offices Thursday or Friday. More followed on Tuesday after a long Labor Day weekend of cleanup and regrouping.
With waters receded, some parts of the sprawling metropolitan area look virtually untouched. Yet in other places — the leafy bedroom community of Kingwood or the Meyerland neighbourhood — piles of debris sit above curbs, industrial-size dumpsters dot shopping-centre parking lots and the air is thick with the odour of mould and decay.
“I’m encouraging people to get up and let’s get going,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said over the weekend. “Most of the city is dry. And I’m saying to people, if you can open, let’s open up and let’s get started.”
Many big businesses will likely recover relatively quickly. But small companies will struggle to replace mouldy carpets and damaged equipment, to reconnect with suppliers, to meet payroll and to draw back customers, many of whom are nursing financial injuries of their own — swamped cars, flooded basements, leaky roofs.
Some companies are still too overwhelmed to resume business, which means their employees remain idle and unpaid.
“The big boxes and big chains can absorb hits like this; small businesses can’t,” says Craig Fugate, who served as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Obama administration.
“Some will make the decision not to reopen. Others won’t be able to.”