Hurricane Rita compounded the disruption to the construction market caused by Hurricane Katrina. While the direct damage from Rita does not appear to be as substantial as that from Katrina, it was a very damaging hurricane, both to buildings and infrastructure. When taken into account alongside the earlier damage, Rita has the potential to exacerbate the problems in the construction economy, both locally and nationally. Overall, however, the most noticeable effect of the hurricane will be in the short term disruption, and the additional impact on longer term escalation is likely to be relatively small.

All estimates included in this addendum are based on the combined effect of both hurricanes. Additional increases that are a direct result of Hurricane Rita are noted as such.