A rising creek in Columbia, S.C., flooded the Two Notch Road area Lowe’s store over a weekend of rain and winds that claimed seven lives in South Carolina.
Bill Edwards, senior vice president of store operations for Lowe's Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW), says the Mooresville-based company considers itself lucky that more stores weren’t forced to close as 500-year record rainfalls descended on the Palmetto state.
“We were very, very fortunate that only one store was impacted,” he said in a telephone interview this morning.
Natural disasters set in motion a series of meetings, a command center opening and other actions at the No. 2 home-improvement store chain, Edwards says.
Last week, a command center was established in the Mooresville headquarters as Hurricane Joaquin approached. The question then was whether risk was for a hurricane or for drenching rains pumped into South Carolina from a stalled low-pressure system to the south.
Turns out it was the rain and wind, Edwards notes. By the time that question was answered, members of the command center were staging supplies in states surrounding South Carolina. When it was safe, trucks of shop vacuums, sump pumps, sand and sand bags, generators and bottled water were dispatched to S.C. Lowe’s stores.
“Then we begin shipping products to those areas,” he says.
Late in the week as Joaquin churned up the Bahamas, Lowe’s sent shipments of water-resistant plastic tote boxes for valuables. Customers could use those items to store jewelry, valuable papers and other stuff that’s hard to replace as they evacuated, Edwards says.
Tarps to cover roofs damaged by wind, rain and falling trees were also included on that first army of trucks.
Over the weekend, command center personnel began sorting out what the Lowe’s stores needed in the state for cleaning up. More trucks were dispatched with cleaning supplies, barrel fans for drying out floors and dehumidifiers.
Command center personnel also helped redirect trucks when they were hampered by the closings of sections of Interstates 95 and 77 in South Carolina, Edwards says.
Recovery teams from Georgia, North Carolina and other surrounding states are on the ground in South Carolina now to help unload trucks and staff the stores. Those members will help out in stores in South Carolina that are running with only skeleton crews.
Many members of the normal staff in S.C. stores were unable to get to work due to closed roads or disasters at their own homes, Edwards says.
“All the stores (with the exception of the Two Notch Road store) were open, some with light crews” as small as 10 to 12 employees, he adds.
Lowe’s employees are also participating in First Response Team of America, cleaning up after the flooding.
Edwards is pleased with the response from employees to the S.C. disaster. “Our Lowe’s employees are at their best when their communities are at their worst.”
Lowe’s also has a relief fund that provides cash to those employees who need help with home repairs and for emergency hotel bill if a family were displaced.
Soon the command center personnel will decide which Lowe’s stores will extend hours to aid in the clean up, Edwards says.
Back to the Two Notch Road store in Columbia: Flood waters from a nearby creek pushed a foot of water first into the parking lot and then into the store, Edwards says. Power was lost in the area.
Now crews are assessing what damage was caused in the 100,000-square-foot store and when it can reopen. “It’s too soon” to answer that last question, Edwards says.