Home Depot reveals Tropical Storm Barry plan: Here's our 'hurricane headquarters'
Home Depot said it’s set to provide customers with emergency supplies as Tropical Storm Barry approaches the Gulf Coast.
Before a storm hits, the company said its supply chain and merchandising teams prepare inventory at its four distribution centers that support hurricane response, ensuring they have emergency products like generators, gas cans and water.
Jonathan Flores, Home Depot’s supply chain manager, heads the company’s supply chain disaster travel team.
“People don’t really understand the magnitude of the supply chain response when a hurricane is happening,” he said.
For instance, 75 additional employees helped at Home Depot’s Savannah, Georgia distribution center for several weeks after Hurricane Florence.
Home Depot also pre-stocks its stores with storm supplies. The company said it also pre-loads trucks with more supplies and stages them outside the area hit by the storm so they can deliver them to affected areas as quickly as possible.
Rain and winds from Tropical Storm Barry began hitting Louisiana Friday. Forecasters predicted it would make landfall early Saturday.
In Lafayette, Louisiana, the Daily Advertiser reported two local Home Depot stores ran out of generators Thursday, but a truck was expected to bring more to at least one of the stores that afternoon.
Employees at the Humble, Texas Home Depot set up displays with items like generators, battery-powered fans and hand-crank radios at the front of the store, the Houston Chronicle reported.
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Home Depot’s readiness may be tested with Barry. The National Weather Service has issued a storm surge warning and a hurricane warning for parts of the Gulf Coast region. Forecasters said flooding “will become increasingly likely” as the slow-moving storm dumps rain on the area.