Eddie Lefeaux recalls with the pride the fact that his laundry in Baton Rouge, LA, stayed open during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and in fact increased its business by 40% as his company, Westport Linen Services, mobilized to fill in for other laundries that were forced to shut down due to flooding and storm damage. Based on a site 55 feet above sea level, Westport avoided the worst of the storm that devastated much of Gulf Coast region of Louisiana and Mississippi, including large sections of metro New Orleans, a key customer base for Westport.

However, while the pressure was ...