MORE COVERAGE Ivan closes in on the Gulf Coast.

NEWS • Gulf Coast is fleeing from Ivan • New Orleans may get 20-foot flood waters BUSINESS • Ivan: Local businesses in hurricane's way • Storms test wood, generator makers SPORTS • Buckeyes eye Wolfpack, storms • Hurricane Ivan postpones Louisville's game

Georgia-Pacific Corp., a major supplier of plywood to Home Depot and Lowe's stores, and generator makers Coleman Powermate of Aurora, Ill. and Briggs & Stratton Corp. of Milwaukee have seen big boosts in production volume during the storms.

The extra business has meant a surge in sales for the companies, but it also has meant workers have had to put in longer hours and managers have had to refocus production on meeting mostly Florida's needs.

"If we were to get another event or if we were to get a stronger-than-normal building demand in the housing market, we'd be extremely tight," said Dave Paterson, executive vice president of Georgia-Pacific's building products division.

The Atlanta-based company has shipped more than 3 million pieces of plywood to home improvement stores in Florida from the time Hurricane Charley hit in mid-August through Hurricane Ivan. That is double the normal volume of plywood Georgia-Pacific normally sends to Florida in a four-week period this time of year, Paterson said.

In recent weeks, Coleman Powermate, which supplies generators to Home Depots, has been producing two- to two-and-a-half times its normal amount of generators. Meanwhile, Briggs & Stratton, which supplies generators to Lowe's stores, has tripled its production of generators, spokesman George Thompson said.