A couple weeks after one of the Florida hurricanes in 2004, I spent some time with a group from our church that did a lot of volunteer cleanup work in the affected areas.

People were constantly surprised that we'd help them cut up fallen trees without charging them. Someone with a decent commercial chainsaw, the appropriate training and safety gear, and the ability to maintain their own saw(s) could have made a reasonable amount of money for weeks. The middle-class neighborhoods are full of people that just need help cutting up fallen trees and getting them to the curb. I personally wouldn't work in lower-class neighborhoods for money, since there are volunteer groups that will eventually do it for free. Still-standing trees and trees actually on houses are better left alone for insurance reasons.

If you can repair, sharpen, or maintain a chainsaw, you can make good money. We were lucky to have two different shops donating their repair work in our staging area, but we would have gladly paid $20 a saw to get some back in action.

In really affected areas where buildings have come apart, plugging nail holes in tires could easily be a full-time job for the first couple of days.

In our area, after the biggest storm hit us, for weeks I think every redneck with a pickup and open trailer was hauling as much tree debris as they could pile onto it. I didn't really look into it, but I believe the county set up a really easy subcontracting system. They either just paid by the truckload/pound or maybe set up a prequalifying system. Not sure which. But every lawn trailer quickly got sides built out of 2x4s and plywood and was hauling huge piles to chipper stations.

Blasters without Borders.....

Sue

"They expect the insurance company to pay for it so they say to do it all and do it now."

When it comes to flooding, a lot of people find out the hard way that flood damage is not covered by their homeowner's policy. Most people don't have flood insurance unless their mortgage holder insists on it. As far as I know, there is only one company that deals with flood insurance, and that's the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program).

Sue

Some of the more unethecial insurance companies will take the national flood insurance and mark it up and sell it. When we sold our house one of the big points we couldn't change was that it needed flood insurance. Its no where near water but fell under the elevation rule. We offered to transfer the existing policy which had a 6 months left on it and the buyer came back and wanted a whole year. So we contacted our agent to cancel the existing and start a year in her name and then found out the buyer had to have it through nationwide and it cost an extra $50 due to their markup.

Pretty much anything in the construction industry, carpentry, electrical, havey machine, & demo just to name a few. There will be no shortage of work for anyone of every experience level. First Aid is something else that is good in disaster situations. Hope this helps.

goat

I understand the tendency to 'flood the zone' and have everyone available come in and help it may not be the best thing to do. Every person who shows up has to be taken care of. They will need food, water, a place to sleep, sanitation and they require organizing.

It is more effective to stage them into an area in waves. First in are emergency services and rescue to get, stranded, injured or dead out. Then crews to clear the roads. Also utility workers will fan out to map out the damage and make sure any compromised gas, water, sewer and power lines are isolated so undamaged sections can be reconnected and service restored quickly without casing fires or more problems.

Then come the linemen who work from large to small and trying to reconnect the most people and most important sites, like hospitals, get connected ASAP.

Once the roads are passable damage control crews of carpenters can get in and tarp damaged homes. Movers can extract the contents of homes too damaged to restore in a timely manner.

It will be a case by case, perhaps lot by lot, basis as to how it is timed and coordinated but I don't see much use for carpentry, interior electrical, sheetrock or painting crews on Galveston island at this time. They aren't ready. There are plenty of 'warm bodies around'. Later, once the situation is stabilized, there will be more work than hands.

Some guy did that after Katrina. He brought down a bunch of generators, and the cops confiscated them all - there's some law against making a profit after a disaster, so the generators sat in evidence and nobody ever got to use them. The goal of the law was to prevent carpet baggers from coming in and overcharging people in need, so the goal was, er, admirable I guess, but selling stuff will be a problem.

"...law against making a profit after a disaster..."

That being the case, I know a lot of gas station owners/oil companies who need some jail time...

Thank you sir! Definite now, heading out Tuesday for a 5 day shift.