AUSTELL - More than 250 employees of Caraustar Industries' Austell Paperboard division are waiting to get back to work, though the company has no idea when that will be.

Caraustar is still assessing flood damage.

In an unsigned statement sent in response to inquiries from the Journal, company officials wrote, "Currently we are focused on bringing our Austell Paperboard mills up and have no projection at this time as to when they will be up. Austell Paperboard employs 197 hourly and 60 salaried employees."

Caraustar employs about 500 workers at its Austell facilities, which include Austell Paperboard, Sweetwater Paperboard, Austell Tube and the company's corporate headquarters.

The company's Sweetwater mill resumed operations Tuesday night, the company said in the statement. About 80 employees work there.

"We can confirm that there was minimal shipment disruption from our Austell Tube facility, which employs 53 hourly and seven salaried employees," according to the statement.

"We are appreciative of our employees' hard work, even in the midst of their own personal loss and are looking forward to participating in community rebuilding in the wake of this flood and continuing to run safe and efficient operations."

Caraustar employs about 2,800 people in the United States and Canada.

The floods of Sept. 20 and 21 came only one month after the company announced it had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a reorganized, private company and eliminating $135 million in debt. The bankruptcy filing was made on May 31 and the announcement of reorganization on Aug. 21.

Caraustar serves the four principal recycled boxboard product end-use markets: tubes and cores; folding cartons; gypsum facing paper; and specialty paperboard products.

In 2008, Caraustar recorded annual sales of $819.7 million.