Damages to a concrete block production plant caused by Hurricane Fabian have led to an Island-wide shortage of the building materials.

However, industry sources told that such shortages have occurred in the past and are likely to occur again in the future ? even in the absence of a Category Three hurricane.

Bierman?s Concrete Products owner Mike Bierman said the shortage at his company had been caused after the hurricane severely damaged wiring at their plant, causing them to lose almost two weeks of production.

Now that construction crews have finished repairing roofs ripped apart by Fabian they are returning to regular construction, he said.

And the shortage of concrete blocks, similar to the shortage of slate in the immediate aftermath of Fabian, is being suddenly felt.

?We will have it sorted out by early January,? Mr. Bierman said. ?I have already taken steps to assure that.?

The shortage was not particularly severe, he added.

But as the public has become aware of the shortage, people have begun hoarding the blocks rather than using them as normal.

Mr. Bierman was confident, however, that the problem would be resolved early in the new year.