Stores Rush Relief as Flood Waters Invade Communities
Home Depot stores jumped into action last week after a deadly flash flood swept through Atlanta and a water main break flooded neighborhoods in Baltimore. The Home Depot’s storm team was ready to meet the urgent need in both communities.
Torrential rains soaked metro Atlanta and north Georgia for days, wiping out bridges and flooding homes, schools and businesses. Residents were forced from their homes as the murky water rose from creeks and rivers across 17 counties. Nearly 50 stores in metro Atlanta were impacted, and all were able to stay open to help customers despite widespread power outages and road closures.
The Home Depot Foundation committed $145,000 in donations, with $50,000 going to the American Red Cross for emergency disaster assistance and another $50,000 for the longer-term rebuilding process. Store associates delivered bottled water to one community that has been on a boil-water advisory all week. The donation was for 10 truckloads, totaling $45,000 of bottled water.
“We were prepared to cover this on all fronts. It was not just a flooding event – it was a repair event because of all the trees down, so we had to make sure we had all of the right supplies,” said Russ Householder, director of merchandise planning for the Southern Division. “We had great teamwork and execution from Atlanta SSC merchants, store operations and DMs working together for our customers.”
In Baltimore a 6-foot wide water main broke recently in Dundalk, flooding local neighborhoods, closing down roads and leaving thousands without power and displaced from their homes. Home Depot Store #2505 responded immediately, staying open for 24 hours to get much-needed products to customers.
Once product needs were taken care of, the associates started planning relief efforts through volunteering and donations. They teamed up with Home Depot’s Community Affairs department to activate our long-standing partnership with the American Red Cross and were able to donate garbage bags, dust masks, big orange ‘Homer’ buckets and gloves. Associates drove to the affected area in 12 Home Depot Load ‘n Go trucks to distribute water and to ask if residents needed help hauling things out of their homes to dumpsters.
“When any type of disaster happens, our first instinct is to help our customers,” said Jim Emge, district manager in Baltimore. “Whether it’s staying in stock, staying open 24 hours or finding different ways just to help the community, this is who we are, and I’m really proud of all the associates who went above and beyond. We definitely made customers for life.”
The Supply Chain and logistics teams also work to get thousands of shop vacs, pumps, dehumidifiers, tarps and cleaning supplies to stores affected by both emergencies for immediate needs.
“We are ready to roll up our sleeves to help our associates, neighbors and customers,” said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation.
Comments
I am supprised to find that The Salvation Army our Femma Partner were not mentioned as having our DS Teams on both of these sites???
I don’t know If I said it already but …Excellent site, keep up the good work. I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks,
A definite great read..Jim Bean
How sad that big business uses the sorrows of others for pr.Thank you Home Depot for your help ,but stop and think people there was a time it came natural to help others without the pr.
The guys in the Home Depot Load n Go are breaking every safety rule by unsafely riding in the back.
Hey, great blog…but I don’t understand how to add your site in my rss reader. Can you Help me, please
RobD – We have an RSS button on the upper right of this page (in the ’stay connected’ bar). It should give you the option to select your reader – let me know if that works for you.
Sarah
i just moved from woodstock ga to greeley co i worl at store 6943 and now at 1544 in ft collins co i hope every one is ok in ga area and thinking about everyone
I believe Home Depot does a great job reaching out to their communities. Not just for pr. Home Depot is showing that they really care. Do you ever see Lowes or any other Big Box going out into the community and helping? I thank Home Depot for all great work.
Hey, I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say GREAT blog!…..I”ll be checking in on a regularly now….Keep up the good work!
- Marc Shaw
Great Job
Awesome blog!
I thought about starting my own blog too but I’m just too lazy so, I guess I‘ll just have to keep checking yours out.
LOL,
In December 2007, the Midwest suffered an amazing ice storm. Some people had power out for weeks, many for at least a week. Home Depot had generators on deep discount, “loss leaders”. Of course they sold out immediately. They ordered and shipped thousands more and could have raised the price to at least the regular price, but they kept the low advertised price throughout the crisis. Many other retailers actually raised the price from their regular price because they knew desperate people would pay the price to keep food in the refrigerator and the heat on. To my knowledge, this has never been publicized by Home Depot, so I doubt they did it for the PR. I only know because I am related to a Home Depot associate in Topeka…and I bought a generator!