nola.com: Lamar Advertising Co. sustained $14 million in hurricane damage to its billboards in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the company.
But the company’s chief financial officer said new designs will cut future storm repair costs.
CFO Keith Istre said the storms would allow the company “to replace existing inventory with wind-resistant structures that are much more durable and have a much higher wind-resistance rating.”
Some of the existing billboards could withstand winds of up to 110 mph, Istre said. The new designs will be able to handle winds as high as 140 mph to 150 mph, he said.
Instead of having a solid face, the new billboards will be like a frame to which vinyl sheets of advertisement copy will be strapped.
“If the copy blows out, that’s just an $800 piece of vinyl,” Istre said.
The company expects its billboards in Mississippi and Louisiana to be repaired by early 2006, Istre said. But he said the company does not know how long it will be before its business in the hurricane zones returns to normal.
