Weather Report: More Severe Weather Events Mean More Work for Restorers

When you hear people talk about the weather these days, it’s often not a pleasant conversation. Instead, they sound like the townsfolk in a 1950s sci-fi movie, discussing the disturbing phenomena they recently experienced.

It’s been warmer than usual in cooler climates this winter and colder than usual in warmer climates. A number of factors are driving these weather patterns, including climate change. It’s a challenge we’re all facing.

We’re learning about all kinds of weather events. Do you know what a derecho is? I didn’t until one hit suburban Detroit a few years ago. It’s a major windstorm that lasts a long time and covers a lot of territory — basically an unwound tornado.

Those who attended The Experience last September found themselves in a heat bubble. Hot air from the Pacific Ocean was trapped for an extended period of time an area that stretched from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

Overall, the costs of weather damage is a negative for the economy. People will face more loss due to these unusual conditions, as we saw in Texas in 2021. For the restoration business, however, there is a positive. As it’s been said, a broken window makes work for the glassman.

If this seems somewhat ghoulish, it’s not. You aren’t causing the weather. What you are doing is helping people when they are suffering.

Belfor sponsors a TV series called “Hearts of Heroes” that profiles first-responders in action. But the show sometimes gets into the subsequent restoration efforts. Restoration professionals could be called later-responders. You don’t save lives, but you help people get those lives back together after disaster strikes.

It seems like you’ll have more opportunities going forward to do this.