Home rebuilding: 'unmapped territory'
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS -- Restoring the housing stock in New Orleans and other communities stricken by Hurricane Katrina could take as long as a decade, the National Association of Homebuilders said Monday.
"The rebuilding process is very much complicated because of the breadth of the destruction of the housing and infrastructure there," said chief executive Jerry Howard. "This is unmapped territory."
In a conference call, trade group officials estimated that at least 275,000 homes were either damaged or irretrievably destroyed by the hurricane. In comparison, Hurricane Andrew, which wreaked havoc across South Florida in August 1992, destroyed 28,000 homes.