Constant rain is affecting farming and construction in Georgia

By

Posted 5:46AM on Monday, August 25, 2003

ALBANY - Roofing contractor Ken Drawdy sends crews out seven days a week, but this summer, their work has often been cut short by the thunderstorms that have deluged Georgia. Drawdy said he's had to stop accepting small patching jobs. Still, despite working weekends, his crew is still running about 30 houses behind. Drawdy is not alone. The torrential rains have delayed construction projects, including house construction and renovations such as tile work, which needs time to dry. Sandra Cathy, director of governmental affairs for the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, said the rain has slowed home construction in the nine metro counties served by her association. Jeff Humphreys, director of the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth, said a little pent up demand for construction work may turn out to be a good thing as mortgage rates increase and as the housing market cools down. Mark Gavin, owner of Mark's Greenhouses, Nursery & Landscaping in Albany, said the first half of the year was exactly as Humphreys described, but business began to slide in July. "Since July, it's just gotten horrible," Gavin said. Besides his nursery and landscaping work, Gavin ships sod and pine straw to Atlanta. He used to get 2,000 to 3,000 bales of pinestraw each week, but now is lucky to get 600 because the forests are too wet to gather pine needles and the needles would rot if they were baled wet. He used to be able to load 18 to 20 pallets of sod on a semi-truck trailer bound for Atlanta. Now, he can load only 12 to 14 pallets because the sod is soaked and weighs more. Lawn-care workers are so busy trying to catch up on grass cutting, they don't have time for niceties like planting shrubs and flowers, according to Gavin. Farmers, glad to see an end to the four-year drought, are reluctant to complain, even though the rain hurt tobacco, watermelons and the spring vegetable crops. Vegetable growers are keeping their fingers crossed as they prepare to plant their fall crops. Peanut and cotton farmers are still a few weeks away from harvest. David Stooksbury, the state climatologist, said the rain began last September, first because of a weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean and later because of weather patterns in the upper atmosphere. "Fifty-seven percent of the state has adequate soil moisture and 41 percent has a surplus, despite the driest January in 107 years in the southern third of the state," Stooksbury said. Albany roofer Ricky Page said he checks the weather forecast every morning to guess his chances for working a full day. "I'm glad its filled up our rivers and ponds, but we need regular stuff now," said Page, a supervisor on one of Drawdys roofing crews. "People in factories get 40 hours a week," he said. "The way it's been, were lucky to get 5 to 7 hours (a day). We're working weekends to try to catch up. But it rains then, too."