1,319 miles to Florida: Hurricane clean-up

darienparlick (38)in #travel • 7 years ago (edited)

I just arrived..

Last night around 9pm CST me and 13 other young men left from Chicago to Miami Florida to do some demolition for a restoration job. The drive was 19hrs and 1300+ miles, but I was eager to get out of the city for a while.

Disaster had struck here..

It couldn't be more obvious that something horrible has happened here.
There is debris and wreckage scattered about many parts of the state. Pretty much anything that wasn't made of concrete was ruined.
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ruins of a roadside memorial near my hotel

The situation so far..

With much of Florida and Texas under water and in ruins from the flooding, Puerto Rico's estimated $6-billion clean is a hefty addition to the intense market boom for demolition and construction. Heavy rainfall prior to hurricane Irma touching land in Florida contributed to the intense flooding in Florida stretching from Bonita Springs to Miami.

One man's hurricane is another man's paycheck..

As horrible as the events of these recent string of hurricanes has been, and as much as my heart goes out to those dealing with loss in the wake of these tragedies, I must acknowledge that the destruction of these hurricanes is spelling out MAJOR paydays for many tradesmen.
Working crews are being bussed flown and down to the southern US by the thousands, and that's not to mention the massive amounts of volunteers doing rescue and relief work, as well as National Guardsmen on the scene. Skilled laborers and apprentices alike are finding themselves with a full stack of overtime which doesn't seem to slowing down anytime soon.
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Me enjoying the sunrise with my coffee

We'll keep working to help, until the work is done.

As we all shuffle about the hotel diner, there is a certain silent dignity about the workers. There isn't much chatting and joking as we usually find among the crews. One thing can clearly be discerned about the energy of our working crews...
They want to get out there, and they want to get this job done.

Off to work!

I'll be sure to catch as many photos as I can during the busy day ahead, and I'll be back to update the blockchain about worthwhile information regarding the situation in Florida in the next two weeks.