From Louisiana to New Jersey, Lowe's aids Hurricane Ida recovery

Sep 09, 2021

Lowe’s priority is to be there to help when we’re needed most – before, during and after a major storm. 

Thousands of Lowe’s associates have been helping customers prepare and recover from Ida, and Lowe’s Emergency Command Center has been working around the clock to expedite additional emergency supplies to stores to help customers. All stores are open and serving their communities.

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TOOL RENTAL TRAILER

Lowe's has deployed the new Lowe’s Tool Rental Disaster Response Trailer to the Lowe's store in Houma, Louisiana. The trailer is operating form 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until further notice. After major weather events, there is an urgent need to get recovery equipment into communities to help people get safely back into their homes and get their businesses up and running.

This mobile unit is stocked with a broad assortment of tools and equipment (generators, chainsaws and fans among the items available) to repair damage they’ve sustained, and it allows us to offer customers affordable rental options for equipment that they may only need for one-time use.

“We want to be there for our customers when they need us most, with the right rental equipment to help them rebuild their homes and communities,” said Shannon Tucker, vice president, pro. “I am grateful for the associates from our Tool Rental business that have volunteered to travel to Louisiana to staff the trailer at Lowe’s store #596 in Houma and serve our customers and associates that have been hit hard by this devastating storm.”

LOUISIANA BUCKET EVENTS

Lowe's hosted 14 drive-through bucket brigade events in Louisiana on Friday, September 10. Lowe’s and its disaster relief partners, including Louisiana VOAD, SBP and Reach Out WorldWide, passed out more than 7,000 free disaster relief buckets filled with cleanup supplies.

Each store distributed buckets filled with goggles, respirators, sanitizer, bug spray, water, scrub brushes, bleach and work gloves.

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LOWE’S COMMITMENT

Lowe’s announced a donation of $2 million to support Ida relief efforts. That includes $1 million in product donations and $1 million to help the American Red Cross, St. Bernard Project and other disaster relief partners. Lowe’s is also assisting nonprofit Pro customers.

One product donation in Flemington, New Jersey shocked a customer who was visiting his local Lowe’s to buy supplies for his community. The customer was shopping for cleaning products and shovels when the local store manager, Joe Lloyd, approached him and asked what he was shopping for. When Lloyd learned this purchase was to help the community begin recovery, he took the customers to the cash register and checked them out at no charge. 

“I was stunned,” the customer shared in a Facebook post. “And deeply grateful for his spontaneous generosity. With leaders like Joe, we are Lowe’s customers for life.”

EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Lowe’s supply chain teams have sent more than 1,800 trucks with emergency supplies to help the hardest-hit communities and continue to ship additional supplies to stores around the clock.

Ten Lowe’s associates who serve on the company’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) deployed on September 2 from Lowe’s of South Jacksonville to help the New Orleans community recover from Hurricane Ida.

Following hurricanes, ERT associates voluntarily leave their stores and homes to help in the hardest-hit areas. They provide additional customer support and give fellow associates impacted by the hurricane a chance to focus on their families. More than 240 associates from Lowe’s stores across the South arrived in Louisiana and another 240 will deploy in mid-September. A third wave is also readying. 

Lowe’s also deployed its disaster relief mobile convoys to both Houma and Thibodaux, Louisiana, to help affected associates with some of their basic needs. The fleet is made up of eight total units – four shower units and four laundry units. The disaster fleet was acquired during 2020 and is currently deployed to serve associates, but eventually the company hopes to provide this as a service to the community at large as well. 

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NORTHEAST BUCKET BRIGADES 

Lowe’s hosted five drive-through bucket brigade events – four in New Jersey and one in Staten Island, New York – on September 5 to aid the region’s ongoing flood relief. Associates passed out free buckets filled with cleanup supplies.

Lowe’s hosted two additional bucket brigades in New Jersey on September 6. Including Friday’s events in Louisiana, Lowe’s has delivered nearly 12,000 disaster relief buckets to help with Ida relief in the South and along East Coast. 

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