Most plastics processors escaped unscathed as Hurricane Erin swept in to Florida's east coast and crossed the peninsula last Wednesday. Processors in Erin's path reported little more than high winds and rain, resulting in power outages and downed trees. Many companies shut down Aug. 2 in response to stiff warnings from the National Hurricane Center in Miami. But by Thursday, it was business as usual.
``We lucked out,'' said Frank Cooley, president of Nylacarb Corp., a custom injection molder in Vero Beach. ``Nothing happened at all.''
Marc Fisher, president of custom molder Tru-Mension Manufacturing Inc. of Titusville, said he had been trying to contact his firm's suppliers along the Atlantic coast and hadn't ``been able to raise a soul'' all day.
John Okopal, president of OR Plastics Inc. in Brooksville, said his injection molding operation had lost electricity Wednesday morning.
Also in Brooksville, Signature Plastics Inc. spokesman Mark Page confirmed power outages in that area. The injection molder closed down Wednesday.