National Director of Sales & Marketing Ron Stulen and other Emergency Rental & Supply staff members rushed drying equipment to restoration pros.
By Robert Preuss
LAFAYETTE, LA — Hurricane Lili slowed to tropical storm level, but not before swamping and smashing parts of Louisiana Thursday.
A spokesperson for insurance restoration/remodeling contractor Superior Contracting Services Inc., Baton Rouge (Ray Mayeux, GM), told CM e-News Daily/Cleanfax Online that most of the calls Thursday during and after the storm came from Lafayette, LA.
Baton Rouge itself, however, had some water damage, according to Servpro of Baton Rouge.
Restoration pros in neighboring Texas — including flood, fire and mold remediation services provider TPV Group (Texas Power Vac, Austin, Dallas, and Waco, TX) — were prepared to get involved if summoned.
JanSan and carpet cleaning & restoration pros can prepare for such storms by lining up sources of equipment in advance.
Ron Stulen is national director of Sales & Marketing for Emergency Rental & Supply, which has been in business for a relatively short time (about two years), supplying air moves, dessicant dehumidifiers, etc.
He issued a press release describing storm preparation efforts for Tropical Storm Isidore, which preceded Lili by just one week, from the new New Orleans office.
"As soon as we saw that Isidore was coming ashore, we set our contingency plans with key accounts into action and quickly notified them that our equipment would be there to assist them when the calls starting coming in," said Stulen.
ERS is a new Bridgepoint Systems distributor.
ERS implemented an emergency plan to ship equipment from its Mid-Atlantic location (Williamsburg, VA) via tractor-trailer September 25; the truck pulled just a few hours after the ERS Gulf Coast Office, New Orleans Bridgepoint Systems/ERS of Greater New Orleans, called for every piece of equipment.
"Major flooding creates mud and debris everywhere," Stulen said. "They're facing a massive job."
Damages from Isadore alone were estimated at about $100 million.
Associated Press reported that by 3 p.m. EST, Thursday, the category 4 Hurricane Lili, with 145 mph winds, slowed to 70 miles per hour (74 mph is minimum hurricane wind speed).
The storm had forced a temporary shutdown of all gulf oil production, flattened can and damaged buildings as wind gusts up to 92 miles per hour hit the Abbeville/New Iberia area 150 miles west of New Orleans, AP reported.
AP said Joe Allbaugh, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency planned to declare the state of Louisiana a disaster area.
Associated Press report.
The Chicago Tribune is displaying a "slide show" of photographs covering Hurricane Lili (click here)
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