This May, Texas received 35 trillion gallons of water, as reported by WFAA news station. That’s enough to cover the entire state with 8.81 inches of water, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area received its wettest May on record (16.96 inches). During this time, Weather.com reporter, Jonathan Erdman, tweeted that the National Weather Service issued a combined total of 594 flash flood warnings across Texas and Oklahoma. But the difficult course wasn’t over. North Texas fought through major floods only to prepare for another big hit by Tropical Storm Bill in mid-June. Fortunately, that storm subsided to light winds and storms once it neared DFW.

With new developments popping up all over Texas, such as North America headquarters for Toyota and global manufacturer Hilti Inc., many construction sites had to sustain the recent weather conditions.

“With every weather update in May, we were making decisions to preserve the life and quality of our projects,” said KWA Construction President Keller Webster. “Although, making critical, time-sensitive decisions is always a part of the day-to-day activities in construction, this month may have been the most challenging of my career.”

KWA Construction, a leading general contractor specializing in multifamily developments, has been building apartments, student housing and senior living projects in North Texas since 2004. President Keller Webster uses that acquired experience to maintain business operations and project success, even when flash flood warnings are as frequent as the nails in a drywall.

With the official start of summer on June 21, the project teams are using the mass amounts of daylight to their advantage.

“A big misconception of rain affecting construction is that materials are damaged from exposure to the water,” said Webster. “When really, the technology used in construction materials today is very much weather proofed.  Now that our projects have aired out, contractors are eager to get back to work.”

While weather delays are outlined in signed agreements to allow time and resources to be extended in instances like the recent torrential downpours throughout Texas, significant delays are always difficult for developers and contractors to overcome, who are typically committed to tight schedules.

For now, the weather forecast remains steady with temperatures in the mid-90’s and North Texas continues to gain new construction opportunities.

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