Yes, I definitely believe that.
In the case of my community, the two local heavy equipment contractors were there pretty much within a week of Fiona, doing the beach cleanup and moving the rocks they could move and putting containers back in place.
The local contracting companies and the local harbour authority have worked very well together in response to Fiona, but when the big project has to start, the smaller contractors within the community don't have the means, the capabilities or the equipment to do it.
In the interim, the harbour authority has been good at working with locals to get stuff going.