Lynh Bui, Pat Flannery and Max Jarman
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 30, 2005

The ripple effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are spilling outside the Southeast, with the intensified labor and material shortages arriving in their wake likely to affect everything in the Valley from home building and quality-of-life projects to commutes.

Certain shortages - concrete, for example - were developing before the storms blew in. Worse shortages are anticipated as repairs get under way, with increased demand for steel, asphalt, piping, lumber and workers in the construction trades. That, in turn, is already sending some construction prices skyward.

“It’s even broader and more difficult and deep than we think,” East Valley Partnership President Roc Arnett said of shortages. As a member of the panel overseeing implementation of the Valley’s Regional Transportation Plan, Arnett worries about the impact on local freeway improvements. Already, bids are coming in higher.

Other officials believe such shortages can only slow efforts at the very time when the Valley is growing fastest.

The steel that frames a library, the concrete poured for a park’s sidewalks and the fuel that powers bulldozers - the costs of things that make the bread and butter of public facilities - will jump at least 10 percent in 2006.

Home builders say they are already nervous that soaring home prices - up nearly 30 percent this year - may deter potential buyers.

Now, prices will likely go up again.