The economic hit from snow storms
While the article below is about Tulsa and not OKC and the exact circumstance are different it’s still a fairly clear indicator of the significant financial hit that our recent snow storms have caused. It’s important to note that the $75 million dollar per day hit in Tulsa was to corporate losses only. The actual losses to their total economy are likely much higher.
Clearly the impact of the storms cannot be entirely done away with, but it’s just as clear that a snow storms total impact could be significantly reduced for comparatively little money. If a much better effort had been made to plow our roads business could have gotten back to normal quicker and the financial hit to the tax base would be much less.
I believe that OKC and sounding city governments should study their needs of additional snow removal equipment including plows, big V snow plow blades for maintainers, fitting of some sanitation trucks with quick hitch plows and snow melting machines for down town OKC. It appears that all of this would easily pay for its self after one major snow event.
The article doesn’t even talk about the damage done to roads by leaving the snow on the road and it doesn’t talk about the delay to emergency services and the damage caused in this area.
Officials like to talk about being storm ready but with the response we have seen in the past 14 or so months to snow storms makes it abundantly clear that our entire area is not as snow storm ready as it needs to be.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/a...1_CUTLIN923854
Published: 2/13/2011 2:30 AM
Financial blow may be as big as storms
Residents of northeast Oklahoma will long remember the twin winter storms of 2011. But for area businesses, the impact from the heavy snowfalls also may linger on their bottom lines.
The Feb. 1 blizzard and a storm last week shut down many operations and hindered others. Now as the snow melts, those businesses are hoping to make up the losses, although not all are confident they will be able to do so.
Most companies were reluctant when interviewed to put a dollar figure on the cost of the storm. Still, it was evident from a survey by the Tulsa Metro Chamber that the amounts will be significant.
Businesses that responded anonymously in the chamber survey listed losses anywhere from a few hundred dollars to more than $600,000. Overall, the chamber estimates corporate losses at $75 million a day in Tulsa alone.
"No sales means no profits," one company leader wrote, while another called the storms a "nightmare" and said his business would be lucky to survive the events.
The area's transportation and aerospace industries may have taken the biggest hits simply because of how they do business and their size in the local economy, industry officials said.
Melton Truck Lines Inc., the Tulsa-based flatbed carrier that operates in 48 states and Mexico, is accustomed to winter conditions in its service areas, but the blizzard that dumped 14 inches of snow on Tulsa stretched across many states in which Melton does business east of the Mississippi River as well.
Melton employs 900 drivers.
"We will lose or have lost a reasonable amount of business, but we will pick up business and move forward," said Melton President Bob Peterson. "Our customers had orders, and they will be delayed. But we didn't have any bad accidents or crashes, and nobody was hurt."
At the NORDAM Group, the aerospace manufacturer that employs 1,500 people in Tulsa, the saving grace of the storm's impact were the early forecasts of the storm's expected severity, said President Meredith Siegfried.
"They gave us an unusual amount of time to weigh the situation and make good decisions," Siegfried said. "The majority of our stakeholders would face hazardous driving conditions and very many would not have trucks or SUVs."
So NORDAM executives decided to close several of its Tulsa plants Feb. 1 and 2.
Siegfried and other NORDAM managers drove travel routes, monitored company facilities, and checked on some employees who were particularly affected by the
weather.
Closing cost the company a good deal of revenue, and the cleanup was expensive as well, but Siegfried said she felt good about the decision.
The storm also caused Spirit AeroSystems Inc. to close its aerospace component manufacturing plant at 3330 N. Mingo Road during the blizzard - the first time the facility has had an unscheduled shutdown in 32 years, said spokesman Mark Walker. Spirit employs 2,000 workers in Tulsa and 264 in McAlester.
"It was a safety issue," Walker said.
At American Airlines, which was forced to cancel dozens of flights throughout the country as the storm made its way east, the snow also fouled operations at its Tulsa Maintenance & Engineering Center, said American spokesman Ed Martelle.
American employs 6,000 aircraft mechanics and related workgroups and an additional 1,000 administrative, IT and clerical staff at the M&E Center, its largest maintenance base.
Although the base did not shut down completely, its operations were significantly slowed by the storm, Martelle said.
"A lot of people could not get into work," Martelle said. "We did have some slowdown on the "light C" and "heavy C" (periodic aircraft maintenance) checks. A lot of stuff had to be put off."
The hazardous roadways created a first for the 106-year-old Tulsa World. The newspaper was unable to deliver the print edition for three days after the blizzard and made the decision to not print.
"It was a very difficult decision but no weather event has ever had a more significant impact on us," President John Bair said.
"The drifting snow buried delivery trucks and our drivers were unable to get to our downtown facility. Even if we had been able to get the trucks downtown, highways were closed and neighborhoods were worse than we've ever seen."
The newspaper kept readers informed through its website and a free version of its e-edition, which usually is available by subscription.
Some companies that do outdoor fabrication, such as Insulation Specialists Inc. at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, were still hampered late last week, said Bob Portiss, director of the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.
"They'll have to wait until the snow clears," he said.
Other manufacturers, such as Claremore's Hydrohoist, plan to put in extra hours during the coming weeks to make up for lost production.
HydroHoist President and CEO Mick Webber said the boat float manufacturing company lost five days of work because of the snowstorm, just before the start of the busy boating and recreation season.
"Overtime, a lot of overtime," Webber said when asked about the cost of the storms.
Small service businesses and restaurants were particularly hard-hit.
In Tulsa's Brookside business district, iidentity Salon lost four days of business during the two weeks of snowfall.
Stylists at the salon are struggling to reschedule appointments while co-owner Julie Hudson worries that customers will simply skip this month's hair cuts.
"We had a wedding party last Saturday that just canceled," Hudson said. "They decided they would do their own hair."
Tulsa-based Mazzio's Italian Eatery suffered a double hit as it was forced to close its restaurants and halt its extensive delivery operation, said CEO Greg Lippert.
"It was too dangerous to send our drivers out," he said.
Tulsa malls closed for several days, and even when they did reopen, some tenants opted to stay closed.
Woodland Hills Mall J.C. Penney manager Gary Rowlett said the breaks between the storms were good for store traffic, although sales were still considerably below average.
Tulsa-based convenience store chain QuikTrip earned kudos from customers for staying open during the heavy snow. The determined retailer had to plow parking lots at each of its 68 area stores several times during the storms.
The chain, however, was forced to close its QT Kitchens food preparation center for several days. As a result, it lost thousands of dollars on hot-food sales, said QuikTrip spokesman Mike Thornbrugh.
Reasor's supermarkets, with 15 stores in northeast Oklahoma, saw a considerable increase in revenues as customers were forced to eat more meals at home.
"In terms of volume, we are way up," said Doyle Kirk, vice president of grocery operations for the Tahlequah-based chain, although he said snow-clearing expenses will cut into those profits.
Tulsa Metro Chamber survey of members about 2011 blizzard
Did the storm cause your business to close or cease operations?
Yes.....80%
No.....20%
If you shut down, how long were you closed?
One day.......6%
Two days......31%
Three days......22%
Four days.......22%
Five or more days.......13%
Limited hours......1%
Other........3%
What impact has the snowstorm had on your customer base?
Significant decrease............45%
Slight decrease............21%
No noticeable effect........24%
Slight increase...........1%
Significant increase........2%
Other.........6%
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Originally Posted by Larry OKC
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