Storm Warning

In the last 19 months, 15 hurricanes have hit the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Five of them were Category 5 hurricanes. By mid-November, long after Katrina and Rita, and shortly after Wilma, businesses and residents were still picking up the pieces. For many Floridians, power was not returned until Thanksgiving. The area is now past the 2005 Hurricane Season, but the effects will linger for some time to come.

How did GAWDA members deal with these catastrophic events? Throughout these pages, we profile some of our members hardest hit by the storms. Plans in place, they were clearly ready for Mother Nature. Having shown that preparedness is critical, they are now facing a shortage of equipment, damaged cylinders, a severe loss of customers, and for some, a loss of employees who chose not to return after evacuating. But all these GAWDA members say they are resilient. Lesson learned? Be prepared.

Here's how they did...

Backup Computer Data
In New Iberia, Louisiana, National Welding Supply Co. escaped the brunt of the storm. “We skated through,” says Michael Dempsey, president. His disaster plan includes transferring inventory to another store and backing up computer data. The company, however, did not escape damage. He lost some employees as a result of the storm, including several who resigned and one who passed away after driving his truck through standing water on the way to check on his grandmother. “People assets were the worst hit our company experienced,” says Dempsey, “as well as the region.” The loss of manpower at customers' sites has put many projects in jeopardy and is having a domino effect on the welding supply business. “This is a very unique situation,” he says.

Katrina kissed the roof of Welding Engineering Supply Co's location in Moss Point, Mississippi.

Employee Call-In
Welding Engineering Supply Co., headquartered in Pritchard, Alabama, has had its share of storms. With no formal disaster plan in place, the company knows what to do when disaster looms. Jenny McCall, executive vice president, explains: “First, we buckle everything down. Cylinders are tied down. Trucks are put inside the shop and parked close to the door so if the door does blow in, it will stop, minimizing damage.” While the store closed for one day after Katrina, McCall says it's important to open back up as soon as possible. “Employees take care of themselves first, and as soon as they can, they get back to work.” Employees know to call their supervisors and let them know that they are OK, that they can or cannot get in to work. After Katrina, one of the biggest challenges was getting gases out of Mississippi. The plant didn't get back up until November, so the company had to look elsewhere for its supply. Its major customers, shipyards, lost almost all their equipment, and McCall explains, “We are in there and helping them get back up and running.”

Protect Inventory
Aeriform had three stores hit hard by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Houma suffered wind damage; luckily water stopped two inches away from the facility. Branch Manager Ivy Bernard notes that the first order of business in a disaster plan is to make sure everything in the store is as secure as it can be. And all employees evacuate.

Reggie Guess, vice president of operations, describes Aeriform's emergency response plan as generic. “We move light material inside, unplug electronics and put them on desks with a plastic bag over them in case the roof leaks. Some electronic equipment is removed from the building. Cylinders are tightly nested with ropes placed around them. Trucks are loaded so they are heavier, and they are moved to higher ground if possible.” Each employee is reminded of their responsibilities.

The water line is visible in the Airgas store in Buras, Louisiana. Contamination from the flood water is extensive.

The store in Harvey, across the river from New Orleans, was the hardest hit, taking on a foot and a half of water. One employee was missing for 10 days, and his supervisors feared the worst. He told them he was staying behind after his family evacuated, but neglected to let them know of his change in plans when he evacuated with his family. His supervisors did not know where he was until his name showed up on the Red Cross list. Houma Branch Manager Bernard stresses the importance of having a plan in place to account for every employee.

In Lake Charles, wind completely ripped off the roof and front wall of the store, opening its inventory to water damage. Half of the building was destroyed, but the company was able to operate out of the other half, supplying medical gases to customers. Guess brings up inventory as a critical component of an emergency plan. “You can't just pick it all up the day before and move it.” And with water damage comes contamination. At the Lake Charles store, two-thirds of the inventory was saved because much of it was in plastic bags. Safety gear that was not completely sealed had to be scrapped. Some merchandise protected in cardboard boxes still got wet and muggy. Guess is looking at buying tarps to protect the packaging. After the hurricane, salvageable inventory was moved to other stores in order to safeguard it against theft. A task force, led by Aeriform's Safety and Compliance Officer Billy Fields, will determine what the company can do better in face of a future disaster.

Continue to Service Customers
Airgas has a formal disaster plan in place to make sure people and property are safe, and that the company can respond and recover quickly from any natural disaster. These plans are developed in conjunction with regional management. Safety directors are charged within their operations to make sure employees understand what to do.

Nesting and tying did not protect these cylinders from Katrina's 150 mph winds at Airgas' location in Buras, Louisiana.

Rusty (Henry) Coker III, president of Airgas-Gulf States, Inc., headquartered in Theodore, Alabama, describes the plan for his region. “A week prior to the storm, we hold planning meetings if we think a storm is threatening our area. We determine what we are going to need as far as power generation for our plants, additional or auxiliary fuel, cylinders for our medical customers, where to get them from, where we will redirect them. We let hospitals know we are ready to help them. Before the storm, a risk management group notifies the location regarding insurance requirements pre- and post-storm.

Two of Airgas' 28 branches in the Gulf States region were severely damaged by Katrina. Chalmette is a suburb of New Orleans; the Buras store is south of the city. Both were flooded and unable to reopen. Coker is not sure when they will reopen, primarily because the industry that was there may not recover. There also are some contamination issues. Coker explains that one, maybe two, could become Superfund sites.

An advantage of the Airgas regional network became very clear during Katrina. Says Coker, “With the resources we have, we were able to keep product going within the Gulf States. We also had assistance from neighboring regional companies in the Airgas network that were able to move equipment in.”

Airgas store in Chalmette, Louisiana, after the water receded.

Have A Fuel Source
In Mississipi, B&R Industrial Supply, headquartered in Laurel, is located 80 miles from the coast. The area sustained damage from the wind, mostly downed trees. President Nathan Stringer says, “Fortunately, no structural damage was done to our business.” Employees returned to work the second day after the storm, using generators to conduct “business as usual.” The area was without power for a week, and Stringer points out that “generators were a hot commodity.” He adds, “Everybody needed power and water, not welding consumables.” The one issue that was a challenge was the shortage of gas. Stringer notes that deliveries were done sparingly, because gas was rationed to 12 gallons per vehicle. B&R does not have a disaster plan, but Stringer is reconsidering.

Cultivate Contacts
Natchez, Mississippi, home to F.R. Blankenstein Company, is more prone to tornadoes, not hurricanes, according to President F.R. Blankenstein Jr. Having been hit by a tornado, Blankenstein is prepared for severe storms, based on many years of experience. His plan includes “knowing which way to run.” A supplier of chlorine to municipal water departments and medical gases to local hospitals and home health care operations, the company is given priority status to get electricity back on. Blankenstein notes that “friends and competitors across the nation helped us get supplies to our customers.”