Courtesy of Lowe's
"The little things mean a lot when you've lost almost everything," Rick Neudorff, director of Lowe's command center, told Business Insider.
- Lowe's emergency command center is the hub from which the home-improvement retailer coordinates its disaster relief efforts.
- Business Insider spoke with Rick Neudorff, who leads the command center.
- He discussed what sort of strategies Lowe's uses to track and respond to natural and man-made emergencies.
2018 was a busy year for Rick Neudorff and his team at Lowe's emergency command center.
Deadly wildfires, floods, and mudslides raged in California and other western states. Violent nor'easters kissed the East Coast. Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael slammed the Carolinas, Florida, and Georgia. There were also emergencies in both non-contiguous states, with Hawaii's volcanic eruption and Alaska's earthquake.
Neudorff and the Lowe's employees at the emergency command center, located just down the road from the company's Wilkesboro, North Carolina, headquarters, were on hand to respond to each of those emergencies.
Founded in 1989 during the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo, Lowe's emergency command center is responsible for ensuring that all stores are staffed and stocked with critical supplies before, during, and after disasters. It's a part of the home improvement retailer's emergency relief efforts, which also included donating $4 million to hurricane relief in 2018.
To supplement its command center, Lowe's maintains disaster relief storage facilities around the country. When a weather event is underway, these auxiliary facilities allow the company to quickly ship crucial supplies like gas cans, chain saws, and generators to affected areas.
Business Insider recently spoke with Neudorff to get a sense of what it's like to work at the command center:
