Disaster Panel: Proactive Persistence Pays Off

Posted October 28, 2016 at 12:05 pm

102816-disasterpanel.jpg


“There are lessons that you learn the hard way,” said Gary Lazarre, director, product support for Pellerin Milnor Corp., Kenner, LA, speaking of his company’s experience during the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans that began on Aug. 29, 2005. While acknowledging that the company was unprepared for the disaster, fast, determined action by many individuals helped Milnor get through this period in which, “The things that happened were beyond our wildest expectations.”

That statement offers a fair summary of the views expressed by four TRSA member executives whose companies survived the worst hurricane disaster in living memory. Lazarre and three other textile service industry veterans participated in a panel discussion dubbed “Disaster Recovery: Firsthand Accounts” during TRSA’s Oct. 25-26 Production Summit & Plant Tours in New Orleans.

Other speakers included Scott Burke, president of Loop Linen, Westwego, LA; Charles LeBourgeois, president, TLC Linen Services, New Orleans; and Robbie Ventura, president of Ventura Uniform Service Inc., Kenner, LA. All four panelists emphasized the need for emergency planning, though none had much of a strategy in place prior to Katrina. Today, all four do have such plans included key elements of their business strategies. During an hour-plus discussion at the summit, each panelist described how their companies managed the Katrina crisis. The summit drew some 90-plus operator and supplier attendees from across North America.

LeBourgeois credited his company’s survival to an insurance claim that was accepted because he had roof damage from high winds as well as flooding. “The only reason TLC is here today is because we had a covered loss on our wind and fire policies,” he said. “If it were not for that loss, if I did not lose that roof, I’d be out of business. Flood insurance of $1 million wasn’t enough to go anywhere, given the damage we had.”

Burke faced similar challenges in dealing with flood damage, but his presentation focused mainly on the 20-page emergency plan his staff developed post-Katrina that they now rely on it to know what they need to do should a similar disaster strike again.

For example, keeping track of external communications through clear documentation is vital to managing amid the turmoil of a natural disaster like Katrina, he said. “The initials of the person handling the calls must be at the end of the log entry,” Burke said, referring to his company’s policy on outside calls once the company’s Emergency Operating Plan (EOP) is activated. “You may ask: Why a telephone log? Emergencies and disaster situations can be confusing. Much of the information passed on by telephone is critical to our recovery. Important information could be lost unless all telephone calls are recorded accurately and in a log book.”

Other aspects of emergency planning include dealing with employees who may face crises of their own in terms of flooding in their homes or neighborhoods. LeBourgeois said he encountered this issue with his staff, whose Upper 9th Ward neighborhood was largely underwater after Katrina. Since then, he’s switched to 100% direct deposit with off-site backup software in “the cloud” so that local electrical outages won’t affect the process for payroll and other key functions.

LeBourgeois and other panelists all said they now have critical computer data backed up to an offsite “secure bunker” in Baton Rouge or elsewhere that they can access from anywhere if entry to the plant is restricted due to a hurricane or other disaster. During the storm, panelists worked with government or National Guard forces to obtain permission to enter the city and/or to access their facilities. LeBourgeois described a nightmarish scene when he first returned to New Orleans four days after Katrina. “We had a judge in Baton Rouge sign a letter to get into the city,” he said. “The first time I came back to New Orleans, I did not encounter a single human being that wasn’t armed. It was the wild, wild west.” In addition to flooding, LeBourgeois’ plant also experienced the theft of half his truck fleet.

Despite these and other challenges, all four panelists’ businesses recovered and in 2016 are once again thriving in New Orleans. Still, the lesson of the need for planning stands out because lightening can strike twice.

Ventura found that out when his plant experienced a serious fire in September 2013 when the company was just getting past the many challenges of Katrina. Ventura credited his company’s second comeback to a variety of factors, including having a good lawyer advising him on dealing wither insurers. Seemingly mundane but in fact vital tasks included reading and rereading his insurance policies and documenting the damage to the plant in photos and notes to help move the claims process to a successful conclusion. “Coming back a second time, I was a little bit wiser and more confident about what I needed to do,” Ventura said. Make sure you have a list of contacts and call them repeatedly – particularly insurance adjusters – to make sure they’re dealing with your issues, he said. “Always over-communicate with the adjuster. That’s what I did. I would always follow up saying, ‘We’re in need of this, we need this. When can I expect to get paid for this? What else do you need from me?’ I continued that process over and over again. It gave him no choice but to deal with me on it.”

Bottom line? These four executives’ companies recovered from Katrina through a combination of hard work, skill and effective outreach efforts. Many other New Orleans-area businesses, particularly small companies, are long gone. Looking back, the value of planning ahead for such emergencies is clear. “Be prepared,” Ventura said. “It’s vital to this. You’ve got to have a focus on what you’re going to do, have it practiced ahead of time. You’ve got to make sure you don’t falter, or you could lose your business.”

124