Storm Rebuilding Likened to War Reconstruction

The Army has landed, the President has been by, and yet the massive rebuilding job now gearing up in the sodden southern tip of Florida still seems a long way from the battered concrete-block dwelling of Dorothy and Warren Paquin.

Outside their home on N.E. 9th St. a hand-lettered banner asks when--or if--agents of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. will be by to assess the Paquins’ claim. Inside, the soft-spoken Mrs. Paquin points to the cracked and nearly water-logged ceiling she fears may soon collapse.

“We’re not people who run away,” she says, as she calmly recounts how the couple crouched in their empty bathtub when Hurricane Andrew’s 160-m.p.h. winds pounded her neighborhood. “But this has already been so trying, and we still don’t know how it will end.”

Money and building materials of all description are now flowing down to south Dade County for what may be the biggest American reconstruction project since the Civil War. Insurers say they’ll pay $7.3 billion, the federal government has so far promised $400 million in special aid, and every day brings a new line of trucks groaning under loads of heavy construction equipment, 2-by-4s, roofing materials and plywood.

Yet even while this work gains momentum, the task ahead is so mammoth that many here compare it not with other post-hurricane cleanups, but with the ground-up rebuilding of Europe and Japan after World War II.

The rebuilding effort, which may take as long as five years, will also bring new trials and perils for the Floridians who have suffered so much since the night 10 days ago when the heavens collapsed:

* Many, like the Paquins, seem likely to remain for weeks or months in the homes they love, even though the dwellings may be unsafe due to structural damage or other hazards.

* Others, including some of Florida’s elderly, are likely to be victimized by the less honest members of the home building industry who are flocking to Florida. Already, officials are warning of various scams.

* Also at risk are illegal immigrants whose homes have been damaged but who fear to come forward for government or charity help they badly need.

* The rebuilding drive is already increasing the price of some materials, making others scarce, and driving up rents.

“Phase one of this ordeal is over, but for all those people who are waiting around for the rebuilding, phase two is going to be a long one,” said John Jacob, a telephone company worker from Perrine, whose home was damaged.

There is some debate about the number of homes that were destroyed or severely damaged: The governor’s office lists about 35,000 such homes while Dade County officials say 63,000 homes were destroyed. By any measure, however, the devastation here dwarfs that of other disasters.

By current estimates, Hurricane Andrew left 250,000 homeless and may have cost $30 billion in damages. The 1989 Northern California earthquake, by comparison, cost $5.6 billion, destroyed 1,018 homes and left 14,000 homeless. Last spring’s Los Angeles rioting, which hit businesses far harder than residences, inflicted about $1 billion in damages and left about 250 people without homes.

The first stage of the rebuilding began for many homeowners last week when hundreds of insurance adjusters swept into the area, in some cases crowded into RVs identifying them as “disaster relief teams.” They made their way across landscapes of barely identifiable wreckage to find policy-holders who often have spray-painted their insurer’s names on their walls.

When all went according to script, the homeowners got temporary living allowances--sometimes as much as $3,000--and pledges that their final checks would come within weeks. Homeowners who have no insurance may qualify for the federal disaster-relief grants of up to $11,500 per household, as well as loans.

So far, “it looks like all the big insurance companies have been bending over backward, although we have complaints about some smaller ones,” says Tom Gallagher, the state insurance commissioner. But he adds that the verdict on the insurance industry’s performance won’t be known for months.

It appears there will be sufficient manpower for the rebuilding job: The construction industry in Dade County has a 10% unemployment rate, and now home builders from as far away as Idaho have offered their services. “The builders are in a frenzy,” said Chief Curtis Ivy, of the Homestead Police Department.

Officials consider that encouraging and frightening, because they fear the builders will include some con men who will take cash up front to do shoddy work--or hit the road without doing any work at all.

“Whenever you have a situation like this, you are going to have people around to prey on the helpless,” says Jeff Kirk, a Homestead city councilman.

A run-up in housing material prices has already prompted Homestead to adopt an anti-gouging ordinance. Police also jailed a man who charged $120 for a $10 sheet of plywood, and the state attorney general is looking into alleged price gougers ranging from tiny companies to the likes of Weyerheuser and Sears.

But builders say prices of some materials are already two to three times their usual levels, and will probably remain higher on such items as plywood, roofing paper and shingles.

Homeowners will not only pay more to rebuild their homes, they will pay more to shelter themselves while they wait. The displacement of the 250,000 residents has filled hotels as far away as North Miami Beach, and has also begun to raise apartment rents throughout South Florida.

Dade County has already sent out about 100 inspectors to condemn dangerous storm-damaged buildings, which they believe will include about half of all structures hurt by the storm.

But officials acknowledge that they aren’t in a position to arrest anyone who won’t leave their home. They expect many will continue to live in homes with damaged wiring, sagging ceilings or water-logged walls.

“We’re strongly urging people to leave,” said Carlos Bonzon, director of the Dade County Building and Zoning Department. “But most people don’t want to leave. I don’t expect to force anybody to move out in this kind of situation.”

Inspectors say there may be life-threatening hazards even in homes they don’t believe merit condemnation.

Florida Power & Light has taken out advertisements warning, among other things, of the risks of using the small generators that have been purchased by many homeowners in the areas without power. For the elderly, simply living in a jumbled, unlighted home poses risks of disabling falls.

As for immigrants, many will not come forward to complain of the hazards of their homes for fear of deportation.

One man, barbecuing chicken outside his home, invited a visitor into his dwelling the other day to view the huge cracks, listing walls and blown-out window left by the storm.

“The wind,” he said, pointing. He went on to explain, in halting English, that he intended to continue living there with his family, and because he had “no papers” he would not ask for help.

“I don’t doubt that there are people like that,” said Bonzon, of the building and zoning department. “They are going to be hurting.”

For local officials, a top priority in the rebuilding is persuading former residents and businesses to stay around for the reconstruction.

Business people in the stricken area are now trying to decide whether their neighborhoods will be busy enough after the rebuilding to merit the investment.

Don Porter said he and a partner sunk $4.8 million into a 44-lane bowling alley on U.S. 1 in Homestead six months ago.

“I’m covered by insurance well enough, but the question is, will there be enough business if we rebuild?” he says. “The bank will still want its money even if there isn’t.”

Town officials and businesses were cheered by President Bush’s announcement that the badly damaged Homestead Air Force Base will be rebuilt.

Some here speculate that those who leave may include some older people of moderate means whose insurance will not be nearly enough to cover what it would cost to rebuild their homes.

Gallagher, the state insurance commissioner, said there are likely to be many who bought homes 10 or 15 years ago and did not increase their coverage in the 1980s as home values rippled upward.

SURVIVAL TACTICS: Relief effort by the numbers: troops, housing, supplies. A5