Article by David Abbot,
Senior Associate Editor
Early in October I traveled to southwestern Arkansas to visit loggers and sawmills for future issues of this and other Hatton-Brown publications. The first thing I noticed: it was dry. Evidently it hadn’t rained there in several months, following an unusually wet first half of the year. In some spots the top layer of the loose, airy dust on the ground was so deep it buried my boot to the ankle with each step.
That was quite the contrast to what I would have found if I had gone with my original destination for this trip: the Carolinas. I had planned to head up the East Coast this fall, but opted against it, not because of the weather—this was before I heard the reports—but because another of our writers had recently visited the area.
As we all know, a major storm hit the Atlantic coastal region the first week of the month, causing at least 25 deaths from Florida to New Brunswick, Canada. For the most part the storm seems to have just sat on South Carolina. The majority of the deaths attributed to the storm—19—were in the Palmetto State. According to some reports the rainfall was at 1-in-500 years levels, and in the Columbia area, 1-in-1,000 years. In some places more than 24 in. of rain accumulated.
Flooding ensued. Rising rapidly to 17 ft., Gills Creek in Columbia nearly doubled its previous crest record, set in 1997, before the river gauge stopped reporting. Dams broke, hundreds of roads closed, some areas had to be evacuated. Damage could easily top $1 billion in economic losses.
Obviously, the timber industry is affected. South Carolina Forestry Commission participated in conference calls with Governor Haley, and deployed chain saw crews to help with cleanup and search and rescue efforts.
A few weeks have passed but not everything is back to normal. According to Crad Jaynes, executive director of the South Carolina Timber Producers Assn., wood is moving again to mills in the Piedmont, but it’s slow. “According to one major mill in the Piedmont, the wood flow is getting close to normal, but some others are only getting six loads a day,” Jaynes told me. “But from Columbia to the coast, it’s slow due to the extreme saturated conditions and the number of roads and bridges still closed. It’s to be expected with the amount of water we’ve had in the last two weeks.”
Travis McDonald, director of strategic capital at Canfor Southern Pine based in Myrtle Beach, reported that operations were back in full swing after a couple of days of employees struggling to get to work due to road conditions, and employees were safe. Although getting logs from the woods would remain a difficult task in many areas, he said the Canfor mills (and most others nearby) had enough inventory to keep going until conditions improve.
Jaynes says there have been no specific reports of timber damage, but that flooding in recently planted stands of one to three years old will undoubtedly be affected. He also urged caution for haulers. “Just because you can haul 90,000 lbs. doesn’t mean you should. The road beds are saturated and there have been rollovers and shoulders collapsing. The rain has exacerbated pre-existing problems with some roads. But wood is getting to the mills, they are continuing to run and their appetite (for wood) should be strong now.”