Business

Hurricane Inc.: Chasing Billions From Ever Costlier Disasters

Cleaning up after catastrophes has become a lucrative business for companies such as Cavalry.

Frank Jones, owner of Cavalry Construction, stands inside a house that was flooded by Hurricane Harvey in Spring, Texas, on Sept. 6, 2017.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

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By Prashant Gopal

September 13, 2017 at 9:00 AM UTC

This article is part of the September 18, 2017 issue of businessweek.

Frank Jones’s cell phone chimes: He’s landed another job. If he’s lucky, it could net him a cool million. “We got a monster house,” says Jones, driving through Houston in his Range Rover. His aptly named Cavalry Construction Co. is part of a legion of contractors and other entrepreneurs fanning out across Texas and Florida in the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Don’t call him a storm chaser. Jones bristles at the term. Saviors to some, opportunists to others, these businesses clean up, in every sense, after hurricanes, tornadoes, and other catastrophes. Disaster is fueling a growth industry as more frequent and powerful storms lash coastal regions teeming with new homes and offices.