Repercussions for people outside New Orleans

Back when Andrew came through, the damage created tremendous and lasting
shortages of building materials. Plywood became unobtainable in the northeast
for a short period of time and scarce for nearly a year after that. Prices went
up and stayed there. A few years later, manufacturers reduced the thicknesses
and quality of the material. Kiln-dried lumber disappeared and is still hard to
find in this area. We are just now seeing the return of some decent quality
plywood -- it's being billed as "classic" material.

I believe we can expect the same sort of thing when the restoration effort gets
under way after Katrina. I think that, if any of you guys have projects in mind
that require plywood (perhaps work on your hangar?), it might be a good idea to
buy it now.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.