Chapter 11: Business Community Response in Hurricane Katrina

# Chapter Outline

1.  Introduction of topics and concepts to be discussed in this chapter.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
A.  Scope of Business Activities in Disaster Response

    a.  Corporate emergency operations

    b.  Employee and facility assistance

    c.  Community assistance

    d.  Employee and corporate forms of assistance

B.  Concept of Operations for future major disasters

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
2.  Case Studies

    A.  Weyerhaeuser Assists Its Disaster-Impacted Employees

    B.  Chevron Meets the Needs of the Communities Where it Works

    C.  Wal-Mart's Response to Hurricane Katrina

3.  Additional Sources of Information

4.  Glossary Of Terms

5.  Acronyms

6.  Discussion Questions

7.  Suggested Out Of Class Exercises

# Introduction

**Scope of Business Activities in Hurricane Katrina Response**

The business community has always been active in responding to major
disasters in the United States. Historically, businesses have been major
contributors of money and in-kind donations to the American Red Cross,
Salvation Army and other voluntary agencies in the time of an emergency.
In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the Asian Tsunami and
Hurricane Katrina, the business community contributed hundreds of
millions of dollars in cash and in-kind donations for the response and
recovery efforts. In addition, the business community encouraged and
facilitated the donation of cash and time by their employees to the
response and recovery efforts.

This chapter provides three case studies of business actions taken in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that provide vivid examples of the
role the business community and its employees are currently assuming in
the United States in response to major disasters.

These case studies highlight the significant commitment the CEO of each
business examined to their Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The
endorsement and active involvement of the company CEO was critical to
setting the goals and objectives of the emergency relief operations and
to ensuring that adequate resources will be available to fund emergency
actions.

In Hurricane Katrina, each business' first priority was to account for
the health and well being of all of their employees in the impacted area
and to assess the damage to their facilities and operations. Company
resources were used to help impacted employees in a variety of ways to
get back on their feet and to help them begin to rebuild their lives.
The company's also provided help to impacted employees in navigating the
maze of government and non-government relief programs. Assessments of
damage to company operations in the impacted area were followed-up by
actions to return operations to normal and to resume business activities
as best possible.

In addition to helping their employees, the three companies highlighted
in this chapter made significant contributions to help individuals and
communities impacted by the storm. These contributions came in three
forms: 1) direct cash contributions to voluntary organizations involved
in relief efforts including national groups, such as the American Red
Cross, and local and regional groups; 2) in-kind donations of critical
products and services such as water and help in rebuilding child care
centers; and, 3) making it possible for employees located outside of the
impacted area to take time off from their jobs to travel to the impacted
area and provide their labor to the response and recovery efforts at the
company's expense.

The three businesses included in this chapter made significant
contributions of cash, products and services to the Hurricane Katrina
relief effort. They also helped facilitate their employees making
millions of dollars in contributions that the companies matched dollar
for dollar. Each company organized employee donation activities and
facilitated the placement of their employees with voluntary groups and
in communities impacted by the hurricane.

**Concept of Operations for future major disasters**

A significant point illustrated in all three case studies in this
chapter is that the business community will play a major role in future
disasters in the United States especially in catastrophic disasters such
as Hurricane Katrina. The business community is part of the
non-governmental community that includes traditional voluntary agencies
such as the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as
Save the Children many of that became involved in a domestic disaster
for the first time. A major question raised in Katrina is how will these
three sectors work together in future disasters while coordinating their
actions with the government relief organizations.

In every disaster there are unmet needs that government relief programs
do not address. Voluntary organizations, the business community and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have the resources and the systems
needed to address these unmet needs. The challenge is designing and
implementing a system that identifies unmet needs and matches voluntary
organizations, business community and NGOs resources and systems to
address these needs.

Establish a partnership between voluntary organizations, the business
community and NGOs designed to bring the full resources and systems of
these groups to bear on meeting the unmet needs of community residents
in the aftermath of a disaster. This partnership would develop an
agreement that would detail those resources and systems that each member
of the partnership would commit to making available during the response
and recovery phases of a disaster.

To implement this agreement, this partnership would establish and
implement the following capabilities:

-   Assessment capability designed to work with government damage
    assessment teams to identify unmet needs;

-   Analytical capability to match available partnership resources with
    unmet needs;

-   Delivery capability to deliver needed resources to individuals and
    communities;

-   Management capability to effectively direct partnership activities.

This partnership would be created in cooperation with government
emergency officials and would seek to identify opportunities to work
with government emergency officials all four phases of emergencies --
preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.

Steps to be taken as part of a pilot project at the community level
include:

-   Establish the partnership among voluntary organizations, business
    community members and those NGOs active in the community

-   Identify the hazard risks faced in the community

-   Work with local, State and Federal emergency officials to determine
    what needs the government relief programs address

-   Identify what resources and systems that partnership members will
    make available in the event of a disaster in the community

-   Determine what are the unmet needs in the community that are not
    covered by government relief programs

-   Create an agreement among partnership members to provide needed
    resources and systems to address the identified unmet needs

-   Establish an entity that would manage the following activities
    during a disaster event:

    -   Conduct assessments of unmet needs in the community

    -   Identify partnership resources and systems that could address
        these unmet needs

    -   Direct individual partners in applying resources and systems to
        unmet needs

    -   Coordinate partners' activities with local, State and Federal
        emergency officials

    -   Monitor and evaluate partners' activities

-   Hire and train staff to manage this entity

-   Monitor and evaluate pilot activities

-   Produce a report that could serve as a guide for expanding the pilot
    to other communities.

**Case 11-1: Weyerhaeuser Assists Its Disaster-Impacted Employees**

# Introduction

Weyerhaeuser Company is an international forest products company that
started out with a 900,000 acre forest plot in 1900. In 1915, the
company opened the nation's first all-electric sawmill. Almost 100 years
later, Weyerhaeuser has grown into a Fortune 200 company, boasting
annual sales of \$21.9 billion in 2006. The company conducts business
along five product lines, including:

-   **Timberlands** (One of the world's largest timberland owners,
    Weyerhaeuser grows and harvests trees on more than 34.4 million
    acres in five different countries.)

-   **Cellulose Fiber and White Paper** (Weyerhaeuser is one of the
    world's largest producers of softwood market pulp and uncoated free
    sheet paper. The company also produces coated groundwood, newsprint
    and liquid packaging board.)

-   **Wood Products** (Weyerhaeuser is one of the world's largest
    producers of softwood lumber, hardwood lumber and engineered lumber,
    and is among the largest producers of structural panels and
    distributors of wood products.)

-   **Containerboard Packaging and Recycling** (The company is one of
    the world's largest producers of containerboard and packaging and
    one of the largest recyclers of paper and pulp products.)

-   **Real Estate** (Weyerhaeuser is among the largest homebuilders in
    the United States, building a range of entry-level, move-up and
    luxury homes. Weyerhaeuser Realty Investors manages investments of,
    and invests in, development financing for homebuilders.)
    (Weyerhaeuser, N/D)

Weyerhaeuser currently employs about 41,000 people in 18 countries. The
company has long prided itself for its culture of safety, environmental
stewardship, and corporate responsibility. Company literature states
that, "We believe no business can survive, let alone prosper, unless it
addresses the needs of all who have a stake in its operations. We are
committed to demonstrating the highest standards of ethical conduct and
environmental responsibility, supporting communities where we do
business, and communicating openly."

When the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama -
where more than 40 Weyerhaeuser plants, almost five thousand of
Weyerhaeuser employees, and more than 2.4 million acres of company
timberlands are located -- were impacted by the devastating consequences
of Hurricane Katrina, Weyerhaeuser lived up to this promise.

# The Company Response

Weyerhaeuser had more than 250 employees and retirees directly impacted
by the storms, with some suffering deaths of family members and 20
experiencing total losses of their homes and property. At least 110
other employees or retirees suffered some kind of structural losses that
qualified them for assistance. Most of the hardest hit employees were
those that live along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and work at
Weyerhaeuser's building materials service center at Gulfport, Miss.
 Eleven of this particular center's 19 employees lost their homes and
possessions. Of the retirees that were affected, most live in Louisiana.

The company initiated its response in the days following Hurricane
Katrina by establishing a senior management committee, led by senior
vice president Ernesta Ballard. This committee, which met regularly to
coordinate policy decisions, provide companywide direction regarding
requests for support and donations, and to offer guidance for employee
initiated assistance to communities and individuals, worked quickly from
the start of the disaster to authorize donations of cash (from company
accounts) and building materials. To manage the actual disaster
response, the committee appointed an experienced disaster relief
coordinator from within the company's ranks.

Called a \"force of nature\" by one local area reporter, disaster relief
coordinator Katy Taylor traveled to the Mississippi Gulf Coast within
days of the disaster to begin advocating for impacted employees and
retirees, acting as liaison with relief agencies and insurance
companies. Taylor also initiated an adopt-a-family program, an employee
donation strategy, and several other relief and reconstruction programs
as described below. Taylor oversaw the entire relief effort and served
as a liaison with many of the external governmental and non-governmental
agencies that were running programs that provided assistance to
employees. 

In early 2006, Weyerhaeuser made a one year commitment to help their
employees living in New Orleans who were victims of Katrina. The
following list describes the assistance that was provided under this
commitment.

**Direct Cash Donations and In-Kind Donations**

Through its Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, Weyerhaeuser made the
largest single donation in its history on September 1, just days
following the onset of events. The direct cash donation of \$500,000 was
provided to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to support
general relief and rebuilding efforts for the areas devastated by
Hurricane Katrina, not just the relief and recovery of employees. The
cash donation was used to provide shelter, food, counseling and other
assistance to those in need.

In the year following that initial half-million dollar donation, the
company's senior managers led a foundation response that exceeded
\$1,015,000 in disaster relief direct cash assistance. In Louisiana,
employees in the affected areas recommended donations of \$67,700 be
provided to the American Red Cross and other non-profits providing
disaster relief on the ground in the hardest hit areas, including
churches providing shelter to evacuees and a Ruston, La.-based
mission, - Rolling Hills Baptist Ministries - which fed disaster victims
and volunteers. Normally, most local Foundation grants approved at
Weyerhaeuser's hundreds of locations across North America are spent on
schools and nonprofits in the communities where Weyerhaeuser operates.
During the response period, however, employees from California,
Colorado, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
Utah, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Iowa and Washington joined employees in
Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia and Texas to recommend
spending some or all of their "local foundation funds" to help hurricane
victims.

In addition to these cash resources, the company donated building
materials -- which it produces - for the rebuilding efforts of employees
and retirees. The Company marked the one year anniversary of Hurricane
Katrina by topping \$1.34 million in direct cash donations to the Gulf
Coast. In total, and on top of this cash figure, over \$160,000 in
building materials were provided to organizations that were helping to
rebuild the homes of their employees.

**Encouraging employee philanthropic giving**

Weyerhaeuser encouraged its 41,000 employees to make financial
contributions to the relief and recovery efforts through its internal
web site. Company-wide, Weyerhaeuser employees gave more than \$100,000
to assist in the hurricane relief of their fellow employees, and to the
communities where these employees lived.

Weyerhaeuser made available several different options for employees to
provide donations to their fellow employees, and to the communities
where they live and work. The first was to provide to major
organizations, including the American Red Cross. These funds were
provided to help all of the communities in the areas affected by the
disaster, regardless of whether or not Weyerhaeuser operated in those
communities. Employees could also donate through an
'Employee-to-Employee Assistance Fund,' which was managed by the United
Way of Pierce County. Any donations that employees provided through the
United Way were matched dollar-for-dollar by the company -- funds which
were provided by Weyerhaeuser in addition to the cash resources
previously listed. The "fill the box" drive placed piggy bank-like
receptacles at all Weyerhaeuser operating units in the U.S. and Canada,
for cash donations, which were also matched by the company. These funds
were used to provide assistance directly to the families of impacted
Weyerhaeuser employees. And while employees who donated were not able to
dictate which specific employees benefited from their donations, all of
their donated funds qualified for tax deductible status. And finally,
Weyerhaeuser encouraged employees who wished to give directly to
specific impacted employees to do so, with the knowledge that such
donations did not qualify as tax deductible.

Employees were also able to provide in-kind donations, through systems
facilitated by Weyerhaeuser branch locations. The locations would
collect the donated goods, and use Weyerhaeuser trucks to transport
those goods to the affected areas where a specific need was determined.
For instance, in the first days following the storm, Weyerhaeuser
employees in Iowa sent six truckloads of supplies to fellow employees in
McComb and Magnolia, Mississippi, providing some of the very first
relief supplies that arrived on the ground in these communities.

**Adopt-a-Family Program**

Weyerhaeuser established an \"adopt-a-family\" program that effectively
linked employee teams from throughout the company with Weyerhaeuser
families, individuals and retirees whose lives were disrupted by
Hurricane Katrina. The program, which was used with great success
following the devastation caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999, provided
employee teams with the information, resources and guidance to "lift the
spirits of families going through difficult transitions." And while the
program was not designed to meet all the needs of the families or
individuals whose lives were impacted, it did serve to fill many of the
gaps that relief agencies and the United Way relief fund were not able
to meet.

The adopt-a-family program linked employee groups with disaster affected
families for a minimum commitment of one-year, during which time the
employee groups pledge to provide assistance and support to the affected
families. In total, more than 40 families applied for and received
assistance under the program. Recognizing the comprehensive needs of
families, who are undergoing significant amounts of stress, the adopted
families were even able to use the money to cover the expenses of much
needed vacations.

**Loaned Employee Program**

A model program of the Weyerhaeuser corporate disaster response was the
'Loaned Employee Program'. Under this program, Weyerhaeuser encouraged
employee participation in the relief and recovery of their fellow
colleagues by offering to pay the salary and transportation, food and
lodging expenses of any employee who wished to travel to the coast to
help the rebuilding effort. Retirees, and spouses of current employees,
were also able to participate if they wished. The program was so
successful that, by the time operations were wrapped up in early 2007,
more than 300 people had taken the company up on their offer -- logging
over 42,000 hours of volunteer time repairing and rebuilding the houses
of Weyerhaeuser employees and retirees (and other non-affiliated members
of the affected communities).

Employee participation in the program was facilitated through an
organization that was working throughout the affected areas called North
Carolina Baptist Builders. The Baptist Builders' operations were based
at the former National Guard Armory in Gulfport. Employees were able to
choose the length of their stays, which lasted anywhere from two weeks
to two months. Loaned employee volunteers lived on-site at the old
National Guard armory, in Weyerhaeuser-made corrugated 'Global Village
Shelters' (which are reinforced cardboard shelters designed for
international disaster response -- and which lasted in the Katrina
response over a year without failure). Employees were provided with
food, prepared by volunteers from North Carolina, in the Mississippi
National Guard mess hall.

Under the program, a new house was built by volunteers every three to
eight weeks -- complete with furnishings. Approximately 20-40 employees
were working in the affected areas at any given time. Many of the wood
and other construction materials donated by Weyerhaeuser were used in
this rebuilding effort. To ensure future resilience, each
employee-constructed house was elevated to protect it from future
floods. Weyerhaeuser\'s loaned- employee rebuilding work centered around
three Mississippi communities where the company maintains operations
(Long Beach/Gulfport, McComb and Magnolia), and in the heavily-impacted
New Orleans area where several retirees suffered damage. In total,
Weyerhaeuser employees, spouses, and retirees repaired, rebuilt or
replaced more than 50 homes damaged or destroyed by the hurricane.
Employees were also able to assist victims who did not suffer
catastrophic losses but were none-the-less overwhelmed with the recovery
process. For instance, one loaned employee group spent time working in
New Orleans' Ninth Ward, where they helped to spray bleach solution on
black mold that was growing in victims' homes.

**Wood Debris Disposal**

Because Weyerhaeuser operations include the recycling of wood products,
they were in a unique position to assist in one of the more difficult
recovery functions -- debris removal. State and local officials in the
affected areas asked Weyerhaeuser executives if Weyerhaeuser lands
located close to the impact zones could be used for emergency wood
disposal. In response, agreements were drafted with local municipalities
to store clean woody debris on company property to help in the clean-up
effort. This assistance not only helped to speed up the pace of recovery
in the areas where employees were located, it ensured that some of the
debris would be recycled into useable products and materials.

**Corporate Response Leadership**

Weyerhaeuser CEO Steve Rogel helped to lead the corporate response to
Hurricane Katrina through his participation in the Business Roundtable.
The Business Roundtable is an association representing leading U.S.
corporations that together employ a combined workforce of more than 10
million people. The Roundtable continues to help the affected Gulf Coast
region, and the victims of the hurricane, by advocating for public
policies that ensure "vigorous economic growth, a dynamic global
economy, and the well-trained and productive U.S. workforce essential
for future competitiveness."

**Other Employee Assistance**\
Several of the more 'standard' disaster assistance programs were
established to help the 128 impacted Weyerhaeuser families. This
included professional counseling and assistance with FEMA, SBA, and
other Federal and state grant and loan programs. The multi-faceted
disaster approach to assisting families was guided by the Weyerhaeuser
'Rebuilding a Community' guide.

# The Disaster Response Guide

Weyerhaeuser had successfully responded to a Hurricane in the past,
after Hurricane Floyd struck in 1999. It's response to this disaster in
regards to serving the needs of affected employees was widely praised by
employees, affected communities, relief agencies, business groups, and
the governments in the affected areas. When the Katrina response began,
the decision was made to formally document disaster response and
recovery operations in order to make these experiences and successes
available to other companies facing the same issues both in Katrina and
in future disasters. Hurricane Disaster Relief Coordinator Katy Taylor
quickly developed a guide, called "Rebuilding a Community: An Employer's
Guide to Assisting Employees," that addresses not only Weyerhaeuser
employees, but employees of virtually any organization, of any size.

The publication, which has been praised by emergency management
officials as "the gold standard for disaster relief programs", was used
throughout the recovery as a benchmark by relief organizations.
Weyerhaeuser quickly updated the guide and made it available to the
general public through their disaster response internet page (which can
still be accessed at
[www.weyerhaeuser.com/katrina/](http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/katrina/)).
The 180-page guide details the steps an employer can take in creating
and implementing a disaster-relief program. While general enough to be
used in almost any disaster, the guide also includes supporting
documents that relate directly to the response and recovery of Hurricane
Katrina. Its ultimate reach was extraordinary as result of it being made
available nationally to disaster-relief public agencies, non-profit
organizations and employers, including Mississippi and Louisiana state
emergency management agencies, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the
Business Roundtable and the American Red Cross.

The following is a brief breakdown of the sections contained in the
guide, which is available in full online at:

<http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/katrina/#Employers_Guide>

1.  **1. Address Immediate Needs of Affected Employees**

This section describes how employers can make an initial assessment of
the immediate basic needs of employees. The most basic needs are listed,
and include both tangible and intangible needs (including disaster
mental health).

1.  **2. Relief Coordinators**

Explains the steps and processes that would be involved in select
employees to coordinate the company's employee assistance relief
efforts. It explains the three levels of coordination, including (based
upon the sizes of the incident and the company):

-   A Company Coordinator to oversee the overall support/relief/recovery
    efforts for the company

-   An Area/Regional Coordinator, to be added after the assessment is
    complete and the company response is defined, to provide "on the
    ground" support for affected employees (this position works with the
    affected employees, relief agencies, assists with the rebuilding
    effort, and acts as the liaison for the Site Contact person)

-   A Local/Site Contact Person who assists with the initial data
    gathering and assessment process and then transitions to a role of
    communications liaison between the company, the affected employee
    and Company and/or Area Coordinator

1.  **3. Assess the Damage / Collect Data**

This section describes how the company can make a more comprehensive
damage and needs assessment, and to collect any additional information
that will assist them in their relief efforts (all of which are
necessary to begin formulating a timely and appropriate response to the
needs of affected employees). Several methods of data gathering are
offered and explained in detail.

**4. The Company Response**

This section helps affected companies to determine the level of effort
that should be expended to assist affected employees, and the types of
assistance that may be offered. The types of support recommended and
described include:

-   Case Management

-   Liaison with External Agencies

-   Emotional Support

-   Financial Support

-   Adopt-A-Family

-   Work Crews

-   In-Kind Support

**5. The Next Steps**

This brief section covers the topics involved in the development of a
transition plan, and all related follow-up activities that follow the
more immediate needs of relief and recovery.

6\. Supporting Documents and Resources

In addition to these five major areas, the second half of the guide
provides a wide range of important disaster response and recovery
resource materials, including a section on sample forms and spreadsheets
that can be used by a company to help assess and assist their employees.

# Conclusion: The Ron Brown Award

By the one year anniversary of the event, Weyerhaeuser's many employee
assistance programs had helped more than 128 Weyerhaeuser employees,
retirees and other community members to recovery from the devastating
impacted of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In recognition of the
dedication Weyerhaeuser displayed towards helping to ensure the recovery
of their affected workforce, the company was presented with The Ron
Brown Award for Corporate Leadership.

The Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership was established in 1997 by
President Clinton and prominent business leaders in honor of the late
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown - who firmly believed that
"businesses do well by doing good." The annual award, which recognizes
outstanding employee and community relationships, is the only
presidential award to honor companies for corporate responsibility and
citizenship.

On November 29, 2006, The Ron Brown Award was presented on by U.S.
Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez to Weyerhaeuser Chairman
Steven Rogel. This honor was awarded primarily in recognition of the
employee disaster response guide the company developed, which served as
a valuable resource for all affected companies. Company officer Ernesta
Ballard, also recognized at the award ceremony, typified the honorable
attitude taken by the company in response to the disaster in stating,
"It was an easy decision to make to help the people of Mississippi and
Louisiana, because we\'re only as strong as the people in our
communities.\" She added that, "We can\'t be successful unless we have
the citizenship nailed."

**References:**

Associated Press. 2006. Company Happy to Loan Workers. August 13.

Boule, Margie. 2007. Post-Katrina Volunteers Proud of Jobs but Aghast by
Delays. The Oregonian. March 8. P.E01.

Cartledge, Tony W. 2006. Katrina Assistance with NCBM Nets National
Award for Weyerhaeuser. Biblical Recorder News. December 1.

Magandy, Kate. 2006. Weyerhaeuser Happy to Loan Workers: Company Aids
Recovery Efforts. The Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS). August 11.

Radelat, Ana. 2006. Weyerhaeuser Honored by Bush Administration. Gannett
News Service. December 1. P.ARC.

Weyerhaeuser. 2005. Rebuilding a Community: An Employer's Guide to
Assisting Employees. September.
<http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/katrina/#Employers_Guide>

Weyerhaeuser. 2005. Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation Makes Direct Cash
Donation of \$500,000 to Support Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief.
Weyerhaeuser Press Release. September 1.

Weyerhaeuser. 2005. Weyerhaeuser Employees, Operations Help With
Hurricane Relief. Weyerhaeuser Press Release. October 17.

Weyerhaeuser. 2006. Weyerhaeuser Hurricane Assistance Tops \$1 Million,
Includes Adopt-A-Family, Loaned-Employee Program. Weyerhaeuser Press
Release. January 12.

Weyerhaeuser. 2006. Weyerhaeuser Marks Katrina Anniversary With
Donations, Nod to Determination of Residents, Volunteers. Weyerhaeuser
Press Release. August 29.

Weyerhaeuser. 2006. Weyerhaeuser's Disaster Relief Guide, Efforts Bring
National Award. Weyerhaeuser Press Release. November 29.

Weyerhaeuser. N/D. Weyerhaeuser in Brief. Weyerhaeuser Company.
<http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/aboutus/facts/WeyerhaeuserInBrief.pdf>

Wong, Dean. 2007. Woman Helps Build New Home for Katrina Hurricane
Victim. Ballard News-Tribune. April 30.
<http://www.ballardnewstribune.com/articles/2007/05/01/features/features/feature01.prt>

# Case 11-2: Chevron Meets the Needs of the Communities Where it Works 

Introduction

Chevron Corporation is one of the world's largest energy corporations,
operating on the global level. Chevron maintains worldwide operations,
including several platforms located in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and
facilities throughout the surrounding states. With more than 62,000
employees, Chevron subsidiaries conduct business in approximately 180
countries around the world, producing and transporting crude oil and
natural gas, and refining, marketing and distributing fuels and other
energy products. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif.

As a result of the hurricanes, Chevron estimated that earnings were
reduced by approximately \$1.4 billion in 2005. About half of the impact
occurred in the company's fourth quarter. The hurricane's effect
included a reduction in crude oil and natural gas production, costs for
repairs and maintenance of both offshore and onshore facilities, asset
write-offs, and expenses for other uninsured storm-related items.

When Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, approximately 3,000 of Chevron's
employees (and their families) resided in the hardest hit areas.

# Chevron's Business Response 

The company began conducting reconnaissance flights and damage
assessments of all facilities as soon as the dangerous conditions
subsided. To ensure that gasoline and diesel fuel volumes were
accessible by customers in the affected areas, Chevron's marketing
organization implemented volume controls at all of its supply terminals
in the Eastern U.S.

Following Hurricane Katrina, the oil industry as a whole experienced a
25 percent shutdown of all U.S. crude oil production and more than 14
percent of natural gas production. In addition, U.S. gasoline supplies
were reduced by approximately 10 percent (Hurricane Rita caused even
greater damage to the nation's energy markets, resulting in the closing
down of all Gulf of Mexico crude oil production and 80 percent of its
natural gas production).

A number of significant disruptions to the company's operations occurred
during and after both storms. One of the greatest challenges was
repairing damage done to the Pascagoula Refinery and its marine
terminal, both of which were in the direct path of Hurricane Katrina.
After six weeks of incident-free work, operations were fully restored,
enabling it to resume production of typically 5 million gallons of
gasoline daily, as well as other petroleum products.

Operations at Chevron's Empire and Fourchon pipeline terminals in
Louisiana were restored after several weeks. Following both hurricanes,
the company worked with federal and state governments to help them
understand the impact of the storms on fuel supplies and infrastructure,
and we recommended steps that would help restore supplies as quickly as
possible. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies
provided numerous emergency waivers of localized fuel specifications
that made fuel supplies more 'interchangeable,' thereby significantly
reducing the severity of supply disruptions. Employees located on
offshore drilling platforms restored production to 56 percent of
pre-Katrina levels in just three weeks. By the end of 2005, 70 percent
of overall capacity had been restored in the Gulf.

# Chevron's Response to the Needs of Employees

Chevron's response began even before the Category 4 storm made landfall.
As soon as the risk of disaster became apparent, all of the employees
and contractors working on offshore oil platforms located in the
hurricane's likely path were evacuated (a decision that paid off when
one of Chevron's three largest platforms capsized in the storm). The
company's offices in New Orleans, a refinery in Pascagoula (MS), and the
Oronite chemical plant in Belle Chasse (LA), were all closed prior to
landfall in order to allow employees and their families ample time to
evacuate the area. All area pipeline facilities were closed as well, to
allow those employees to evacuate and to minimize the likelihood of
pipeline-related damages.

After the storm had passed, Chevron immediately began contacting their
affected employees in order to establish their whereabouts and
condition. To account for hurricane-affected employees, Chevron
established a corporate toll-free line, used radio and Web
communications, and took out advertisements in newspapers across the
Gulf Coast urging employees to contact the company. In the Pascagoula
area, Chevron employees went door to door in search of missing
co-workers. By September 16^th^, the company had accounted for the
safety of all affected employees in the region.

On August 30^th^, just two days following the hurricane's arrival,
Chevron Corporation announced that it was committing \$5 million to
support recovery efforts in the affected communities. Of this funding,
\$3 million was given to the American Red Cross in support of disaster
relief efforts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and the remaining
\$2 million was reserved for local charities and relief efforts near
Chevron businesses in the affected states, as determined by the Company
(recognizing that local needs would not be known for a few days or
weeks). This amount was later supplemented by an additional \$3 million
in funding to further the reach of the recovery programs initiated.

Chevron also supplied about 2,100 cots, 79 pallets of blankets and
hundreds of comfort kits to the relief staging area in Montgomery, AL,
as well as nearly 25,000 cases of water to various relief centers (in
cooperation with the Coca-Cola Company and the nonprofit organization
America's Second Harvest.) Tetanus and hepatitis A vaccines were
provided to the affected communities. In order to deliver the supplies
as quickly as possible, the company obtained waivers from the government
of Mississippi which allowed Chevron's truck drivers to bypass the
damaged main roads.

Chevron Corporation began assisting employees with their immediate and
long-term needs by establishing a system, hosted on the company's
intranet, to facilitate employee offers to help. One of these programs
was a rooming accommodation site on which employees could assist
colleagues and their families that had been left homeless by the
hurricane. Through this site, Chevron also established the
employee-funded Chevron Humanitarian Relief Fund. This fund was designed
to channel individual employee and retiree contributions to affected
Chevron families. Chevron matched employee contributions dollar for
dollar, and the Fund accrued hundreds of thousands of dollars in just
days -- topping \$1.5 million by November 30^th^ of 2005. The money
collected was distributed as grants of \$5,000 to more than 300
employees affected by both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Chevron encouraged employee assistance to hurricane-affected colleagues
and communities through the four separate means, via the company's
website. The following is an excerpt from this communication:

1.  **Employee-to-employee financial assistance:** This type of giving
    provides highest impact in the immediate term, and is Chevron\'s
    preferred vehicle for helping displaced employees. The best method
    for giving is through The Chevron Humanitarian Relief Fund, which
    distributes all funds to affected employees and their families.
    Anyone can contribute to the fund by sending a check, in their local
    currency, or by wiring money, in their local currency.

2.  **Employee-to-community financial assistance:** This is a critical
    way to help in the first, immediate phase of relief, as aid agencies
    on the ground provide support to Chevron employees and hundreds of
    thousands of community members. Chevron was among the first
    corporations to contribute to the relief effort, committing \$5
    million to the American Red Cross and local agencies.

3.  **Employee-to-employee contribution of supplies:** Experts say it\'s
    very important that victims\' specific needs are identified so that
    employees, however well intentioned, contribute only the most needed
    supplies in this type of giving. Needed supplies now include
    clothing, non-perishable foods and basic hygiene items for children
    and adults. Employees who organize workplace drives of such basic
    supplies should consult local relief agencies such as The Red Cross,
    United Way and Salvation Army to ensure they are collecting items
    that are currently most needed.

4.  **Employee-to-community contribution of supplies:** Chevron
    encourages employees to donate goods through local drives, which aid
    entire communities, such as those organized by The American Red
    Cross, United Way and Salvation Army.

Examples of relief and recovery support that was funded from the
community relief fund include:

-   \$250,000 to the Project Rebuild Plaquemines Parish to provide
    rebuilding assistance including stocking homes with necessities for
    living

-   \$250,000 contribution to Jackson County Day Care Centers to assist
    with restoration of hurricane-damaged licensed childcare facilities

-   \$100,000 to support Kid's Clinics in New Orleans which are
    affiliated with the Children's Hospital

-   The purchased of a van for the Mississippi Blood Services to use for
    emergency response, including transporting equipment, personnel and
    blood products throughout New Orleans and statewide

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   The provision of school supplies including over 3,700 children's
    books to Houston-area schools

-   The donation of 400 gas cards valued at \$20,000 to teachers in the
    Houston area

-   A \$150,000 contribution for water delivery to impacted Gulf Coast
    communities, working through America's Second Harvest

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   A \$50,000 contribution to the Coast Guard Foundation Disaster
    Relief Fund to provide food, water, clothing and emergency housing
    for the 2,200 active duty Coast Guard personnel and their families
    affected by the disaster

-   An aggregate of \$450,000 in contributions to school districts in
    Pascagoula, MS; Lafayette, LA; and Houston, TX, to provide
    educational, social and medical support for evacuated students

-   An aggregate of \$550,000 in contributions to general relief
    agencies such as the United Way for Plaquemine Parish, LA, and
    Jackson County, MS, as well as to Spindletop Charities in Houston,
    TX;

-   \$250,000 to the Bacot/Jolly P. McCarty Foundation in Mississippi
    for general recovery efforts and volunteer relief support.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   The funding of a 'mobile barbecue', staffed with employee
    volunteers, which served approximately 20,000 meals to evacuees,
    security staff and volunteers at the Houston Astrodome during the
    week of Sept. 12.

**The Tent City**

To meet the housing needs of employees and their families made homeless
near the Pascagoula Refinery, the Oak Point Oronite plant, and employees
in Lafayette, LA and Picayune, MS, Chevron established a number of
temporary housing facilities, nicknamed 'tent cities.'

Chevron employees used the company's global procurement systems and
business connections to arrange for the supplies and equipment used in
the tent cities, as the local (and even national) demand for most of the
resources far exceeded what existed. Chevron tasked their global
provider for facilities catering management, ESS - who also specializes
in crisis management and had erected tent cities for the U.S. army on
short notice, with the mobilization of the camps (which drew upon
supplies from as far away as South Africa).

More than 1,200 employees were located in Pascagoula, which received a
direct hit from the hurricane. Over 300 employees suffered total
property losses, and many others' homes were damaged such as to prevent
safe occupancy. To meet the needs of these employees and their families,
Chevron built a 12-acre tent city that encompassed 500,000 square feet
of air-conditioned livable space and provided enough beds for up to
1,500 of the refinery employees and their family members whose homes
were destroyed or severely damaged. The established facility provided
all of the services required by the housed employees, including water,
catering, power, satellite communications, sewage treatment, medical
services, bedding, laundry, and recreation. To meet their most immediate
needs, Chevron supplied 3,000 ready to eat meals, appropriate clothing,
bedding, toiletries and first aid. Each tent, which could be configured
in several different ways to accommodate the range of families' needs,
utilized waterproof canvas for the walls and roofing, and had wooden
floors. A group of 30 California refinery employees flew in to staff the
facility.

Temporary housing facilities for employees and their families were also
opened near the Oak Point Oronite plant, in Lafayette, LA (modular
temporary housing complexes were used), in Picayune, MS, and elsewhere
in affected areas where the company operated. By the end of 2005,
Chevron was still providing temporary housing for 756 employees and
family members in seven separate locations.

**Other Forms of Relief Assistance Provided to Families and
Communities**

Direct Cash Assistance

Chevron provided nearly \$9 million in assistance to approximately 3,100
employees in need of cash, which included tax-free payments and loans
through the company's Natural Disaster Assistance for Employees program.
In addition, the company's Employee Assistance and Work/Life Services
were expanded to provide support and counseling services for employees
and their family members dealing with the psychological impact of the
disasters.

**Prepaid Taxes**

One of the more unique forms of assistance that Chevron provided in the
communities where it operates came in the form of prepaid taxes. As
local government agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi responded to the
immediate and prolonged crisis, their cash reserves were quickly
drained, and incoming tax revenues slowed to a trickle. To provide some
funding stability, Chevron elected to prepay more than \$18.4 million
toward the company's local property taxes to the city of New Orleans and
to Cameron, Vermilion and Plaquemines parishes in Louisiana, and to
Jackson County, Mississippi.

**Case Management**

To help employees rebuild their lives, Chevron established a Hurricane
Case Management Center. The center provided employees with a central
resource for resolving long-term, complex issues beyond what the
company's current system supported. Employees who contacted the center
were assigned a case manager who offered assistance on accessing
resources -- from pre-qualified home contractors to information about
the Chevron Humanitarian Relief Fund. By early 2006, more than 300
employees had been assisted by the facility.

**Assistance to Affected Retailers**

To assist Chevron and Texaco retailers (gas stations) that were impacted
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- some of which were declared a total
loss - the Chevron & Texaco Hurricane Recovery program was launched.
This program provided financial assistance to dealers to help them
manage the costs of repairs and other recovery. Components of the
program, for which more than 320 retailers in Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, and Texas participated, included:

-   **Amortization Forgiveness:** Marketers with sites declared a total
    loss by district sales teams had the unamortized portion of
    incentive repayment obligations forgiven. Sites were required to be
    abandoned or rebuilt as Chevron or Texaco.

-   **Cash Flow Support:** Rental fees for signs and Electronic Point of
    Sale (EPOS) systems, and EPOS connectivity fees, were waived for the
    months of September, October, November and December.

-   **Sign Repair and Replacement:** Repair and replacement of hurricane
    damaged primary logo-bearing signs ('ID') and Lighted Price Signs
    (LPS) at Chevron sites where the signs are owned by the company was
    covered by Chevron, and 100 percent reimbursement for
    repair/replacement of hurricane damaged primary signs at Texaco
    locations supplied by Chevron was provided.

-   **Gas Discounts:** To encourage business at affected retailers,
    qualifying Chevron and Texaco credit card holders in selected
    counties/parishes of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas
    received five cents per gallon discounts for up to 90 days.

# The Commitment to Childcare and Early Childhood Education

One particular form of relief and recovery assistance provided by
Chevron that is truly remarkable is that which they provided, and
continue to provide, to rebuild and recover childcare and early
childhood development facilities in the disaster affected areas.

In the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, Pascagoula refin­ery General
Manager Roland Kell tasked the plant's leadership to find creative,
useful ways that the company could help the community where the refinery
operated to best address the most pressing problems they were facing.
Several of the employees with children expressed their frustration to
Kell that there was a major lack of child care for pre-kindergarten
children in the area because so many facilities were damaged by the
storm. Many of them were having difficulty coming to work because there
were no viable, safe options for the care of their children. In
recognition of a problem that was not only a very real business
continuity issue, but also something that was severely affecting the
family lives of many employees, Chevron's Missis­sippi public and
government affairs manager, Steve Renfroe, and Amy Brandenstein,
community affairs representative, were tasked with commissioning a
survey of local child care facilities.

Renfroe contacted the Mississippi State University (MSU) Early Childhood
Institute (ECI), who specialized in childcare issues and early childhood
development. In 2004, the Pascagoula Refinery provided a grant of
\$650,000 to launch a pilot program in Mississippi called 'Excel by
Five', designed to improve a child\'s overall well-being by age five.
Through this program the company developed a relationship with Dr. Cathy
Grace, professor and director of ECI. On September 16^th^, 2005, just
two weeks after the storm struck, ECI conducted a telephone and
door-to-door survey of licensed child care providers in Jackson County.
Dr. Grace found that that due to hurricane damage, 75% of Pascagoula's
facilities were shut down, and 25% were closed across Jackson County.\
\
Using the results of the survey, Renfroe coordinated the Chevron Day
Care Recovery Project, which was designed to restore damaged facilities
in Jackson County. Centers were 'triaged' by color, with red signifying
the most work needed, followed by yellow and green. While some
facilities needed extensive work, others simply needed to repair or
replace regulatory requirements, such as a fence surrounding the
property as required by the state licensing board. A number of them had
to be completely restocked with furniture, appliances, baby beds, books,
toys and supplies. Facilities were also prioritized by their capacity,
with those serving the greatest number of children rising to the top of
the list.

An initial \$250,000 in funding for the project was provided by Chevron
to a non-profit agency called Rebuild Jackson County (for which Steve
Renfroe is on the Board of Directors), which allowed that agency's
administrators to perform a wide variety of tasks related to repairing
and re-supplying the centers in need. Chevron's child care recovery
effort, which included an additional \$250,000 in funding, restored 40
licensed day care facilities - five of which had to be completely
restructured.

-   Cleaning

-   Pulling sheetrock

-   Testing for mold

-   Buying new books

-   Buying new developmental toys

-   Repairing or replacing playgrounds

-   Buying new furniture

-   Replacing damaged appliances

The manpower to complete this monumental task was handled by several of
Chevron's own employees and retirees, as well as by workers from several
contracting companies.

Renfroe claimed that Chevron saw the project as a means for parents to
be able to return to work -- an economic development issue more than
simply a matter of charity.

The project will ultimately have impacts that go beyond Jackson County.
Dr. Grace claims that the Chevron efforts have given ECI a model that
can be used by other communities that are impacted by a hurricane to
assess damages to daycare centers, and to repair those that are damaged
or destroyed.

**Other Ongoing Assistance For Childcare and Early Childhood Education**

Chevron's dedication to children did not end with the Jackson County
project. The \$5 million given by Chevron to various community
development agencies (in addition to those given to Rebuild Jackson
County) were ultimately used to address many of the affected
communities' disaster-related problems. For instance, \$250,000 given to
the Pascagoula School District was used to provide additional counseling
services for students and teachers (eleven schools in the district were
flooded during the storm.) Another \$250,000 provided to The United Way
of Jackson and George Counties used their contribution for special
disaster-related grants for its agencies as well as other nonprofit
organizations in the area, each having a special focus on children,
teachers and childcare providers.

To continue Chevron's work on the Gulf Coast, the company initiated a
new program in June of 2006 called Energy for Learning. Energy for
Learning is what Chevron considers "an \$18 million investment for
post-Katrina education on the Gulf Coast." The program supports public
school education in 23 Louisiana and Mississippi school districts that
were affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Following consultation with the respective district and state
superintendents of education in Louisiana and Mississippi, Energy for
Learning was been developed to address the 23 districts' needs by
equipping the public schools with academic materials and technology
(such as science labs and I.T. equipment), as well to reinstate student
programs that help develop physical and personal skills.

Energy for Learning also included \$6 million for the State of
Mississippi, which continued the work of Rebuild Jackson County and
funded a new project through the international nonprofit organization
Save the Children. Save the Children is working to reestablish all of
the daycare centers in Harrison County (MS) that were affected by the
storm. Thirty-two of that county's centers were destroyed, and Save the
Children estimates that over \$4 million would be needed to open all of
the centers. In Louisiana, which received \$12 million of this funding
for similar projects, Chevron is working with the Greater New Orleans
Foundation and the Community Foundation of Acadiana.

# Conclusion 

On October 6, 2006, Chevron's Stephen Renfroe was honored with the
Mississippi Early Childhood Association's 'Swimmy Award' for his "deep
commitment to Mississippi's young children." Dr. Cathy Grace presented
the award to Renfroe during the association's annual conference. "After
Hurricane Katrina, Steve Renfroe not only led the effort to restore
early care and education for children in Jackson County, where many
Chevron employees and their families live, but set an example for other
corporations and organizations," Grace said. "He does not realize how
far and wide the story of his help to young children, their teachers and
caregivers, and their families has spread in the early childhood arena.
Mississippi is very fortunate to have such a compassionate, yet
strategic advocate for young children."\
\
Chevron, as a corporation, also received the National Association of
Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) "Child Care Leadership
Award" on March 2, 2007. Presented during NACCRRA's Annual Policy
Symposium, this award recognized the company for its outstanding efforts
to support the development and learning of all children. Chevron was
honored for its "outstanding leadership in helping child care programs
along the Gulf Coast recover in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."\
\
Thanks to Chevron's recovery efforts, by March 2006, more than 2,800
children along the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast were able to
return to their licensed child care centers. This is only a fraction of
the total number of children they have helped, which continues to grow
as the many projects they funded achieve their goals. Chevron's
commitment to its employees and the communities where it works was not
lost on those who were affected. A company can choose in a crisis to
take action that preserves the continuity of business. They can also
take action that recognizes their corporate responsibility to the
communities where they serve and the employees that provide the manpower
they require to survive. Occasionally, a company makes a decision that
effectively supports both of these areas equally, and all parties win as
a result.

**Resources:**

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Provides Update on Hurricane Katrina.
Chevron Press Release. August 29.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Reaches Out To Employees Impacted by
Hurricane Katrina. Chevron Press Release. August 30.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Commits \$5 Million to Support
Hurricane Relief Efforts. Chevron Press Release. August 30.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Mobilizes Vendors Around the World to
Build Camp Chevron for 1,500 Displaced Employees and Family Members.
Chevron Press Release. September 1.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Updates Hurricane Impacts. Chevron
Press Release. September 6.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Reports All Employees Safe, Begins
Product Imports at Pascagoula Refinery. Chevron Press Release. September
19.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Updates Activities in Gulf Region
After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Chevron Press Release. October 5.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Chevron Responds to Gulf Coast Supply Issues.
Chevron Press Release. N/d.

Chevron Corporation. 2005. Four Best Ways to Help Victims of Katrina in
Short Term. Chevron Press Release. N/d.

Chevron Corporation. 2006. Chevron Commits \$18 Million to Gulf Coast
Education. Chevron Press Release. June 21.

Early Childhood Institute. 2006. Chevron's Stephen Renfroe Receives
Swimmy Award from Mississippi Early Childhood Association. Mississippi
State University Press Release. October 12.

Harris, Donna. 2005. Chevron's Donations to Target Children. The
Mississippi Press. September 22. P.1,12.

Hines, Lora. 2005. Donors Helping Out Child Care Centers. Mississippi
Clarion Ledger. October 31.

Lofton, Lynn. 2006. Chevron Gets 40 Jackson County Daycare Facilities
Going; Pascagoula Refinery Employees Play Key Role in Helping Centers
Open. Mississippi Business Journal. January 30.

NACCRRA. 2007. Chevron Corporation and Nadine Basha Honored for
Outstanding Support of Children. NACCRRA Press Release. March 1.

Ranager, Emily. 2006. Save the Children Looks After Pass Kids. The Sun
Herald. August 5.

Rivlin, Gary. 2006. Tough Hurdles for Companies to Move Back to New
Orleans. The New York Times. April 7.

**Appendix A**: Partial list of recipients of Chevron hurricane relief
and recovery assistance.

+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| **Recipient** | **   | **Details**                                  |
|               | Amou |                                              |
|               | nt** |                                              |
+===============+======+==============================================+
| America\'s    | \    | > Water delivery during Hurricane Katrina    |
| Second        | $150 | > disaster relief efforts.                   |
| Harvest       | ,000 |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Coast Guard   | \$50 | > Food, water, clothing, and emergency       |
| Foundation    | ,000 | > housing for 2,200 active-duty personnel    |
|               |      | > affected by the Katrina.                   |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Communities   | \    | > Education, social and health services for  |
| in Schools    | $100 | > children attending schools in the Houston  |
|               | ,000 | > area whose families were displaced by      |
|               |      | > Katrina.                                   |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Pascagoula    | \    | > Restoration of schools in Pascagoula and   |
| School        | $250 | > greater Jackson County, Mississippi, and   |
| District      | ,000 | > other affected areas.                      |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| United Way of | \    | > Direct assistance to individuals impacted  |
| Jackson and   | $250 | > by the Katrina, particularly those who     |
| George County | ,000 | > lost income.                               |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Bacot/Jolly   | \    | > Reconstruction, primarily for roofing      |
| P. McCarty    | $250 | > services, in Jackson County.               |
| Foundation    | ,000 |                                              |
| ('Rebuild     |      |                                              |
| Jackson       |      |                                              |
| County')      |      |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Lafayette     | \    | > Support to schools in Lafayette,           |
| Educational   | $100 | > Louisiana, and surrounding communities     |
|               | ,000 | > that are educating students displaced by   |
|               |      | > Katrina.                                   |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Spindletop    | \    | > To help Houston area youth organizations   |
| Charities     | $100 | > meet the needs of children and young       |
|               | ,000 | > people displaced by Katrina.               |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Plaquemines   | \    | > Temporary shelter assistance for           |
| Parish        | $200 | > approximately 450 employees of the parish  |
|               | ,000 | > and their families.                        |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Mississippi   | \$46 | > Support for the purchase of two vans to    |
| Blood         | ,000 | > transport equipment, personnel and blood   |
| Services      |      | > products.                                  |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Kids Clinic - | \    | > To help reopen one of the four damaged     |
| New Orleans   | $100 | > \"Kids First\" clinics in the New Orleans  |
|               | ,000 | > area that received extensive flood damage  |
|               |      | > during Katrina.                            |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Jackson       | \    | > To help restore childcare facilities in    |
| County Day    | $250 | > Jackson County damaged by Katrina.         |
| Care Centers  | ,000 |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Senate        | \$50 | > Goods and services to aid disaster         |
| District 1    | ,000 | > recovery in St. Bernard, Plaquemines and   |
| Disaster      |      | > St. Tammany parishes.                      |
| Relief Fund   |      |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Vermilion     | \    | > To help the restoration of 21 public       |
| Parish Public | $100 | > schools.                                   |
| Schools       | ,000 |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Cameron       | \$50 | > Replacement of patrol vehicle and other    |
| Parish        | ,000 | > disaster-related needs.                    |
| Sheriff\'s    |      |                                              |
| Office        |      |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| United        | \$50 | > Assistance to help nonprofit share         |
| Policyholders | ,000 | > expertise about insurance claims process   |
|               |      | > with disaster victims.                     |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| New Orleans   | \    | > To provide assistance for a range of       |
| Police        | $225 | > services that help members of the New      |
| Foundation    | ,000 | > Orleans Police Department rebuild their    |
|               |      | > homes or and or buy new housing.           |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Louisiana     | \$50 | > For improvements to Louisiana Highway 1,   |
| Highway 1     | ,000 | > which links Port Fourchon, a Louisiana     |
| Coalition     |      | > energy hub, with the rest of the state.    |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Baratar       | \    | > To help Barataria Terrebonne National      |
| ia-Terrebonne | $100 | > Estuary Program rebuild critical wetland   |
| National      | ,000 | > habitat in southeastern Louisiana affected |
| Estuary       |      | > Katrina.                                   |
| Program       |      |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+
| Coastal       | \    | > Support for near term wetlands restoration |
| Conservation  | $100 | > projects in Southwestern Louisiana         |
| Association   | ,000 | > impacted by Hurricane Rita.                |
| of Louisiana  |      |                                              |
+---------------+------+----------------------------------------------+

Source:
http://www.chevron.com/cr_report/2005/case_studies/responding_hurricanes/supplemental/contributions.asp

# Case 11-3: Wal-Mart's Response to Hurricane Katrina

## Introduction

The Wal-Mart chain of stores and discount outlets was started by founder
Sam Walton in 1962 with the opening of the first Wal-Mart store in
Rogers, Arkansas. Over the next forty-five years, Wal-Mart ballooned
into the global powerhouse that exists today, boasting thousands of
stores throughout the world. World-wide, Wal-Mart employs over 1.9
million people. Wal-Mart currently has five different types of stores,
including:

-   **Wal-Mart Discount Stores**\
    Wal-Mart now has more than 1,100 discount stores in the United
    States alone, selling a very wide range of items including: family
    apparel, automotive products, health and beauty aids, home
    furnishings, electronics, hardware, toys, sporting goods, lawn and
    garden items, pet supplies, jewelry, and house wares.

-   **Wal-Mart Supercenters**\
    Developed in 1988 to meet the growing demand for one-stop family
    shopping, Wal-Mart Supercenters today number more than 1,900 in the
    United States. Supercenters combine full grocery lines and general
    merchandise together in one store. In addition to general
    merchandise, Supercenters offer bakery goods, deli foods, frozen
    foods, meat and dairy products, and fresh produce, and feature
    specialty shops such as vision centers, Tire & Lube Expresses, Radio
    Grill, McDonald's or Subway restaurants, portrait studios and
    one-hour photo centers, hair salons, banks, and employment agencies.
    Supercenters average 187,000 square feet in size, employ 350 or more
    people, and offer 142,000 different items.

-   **Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets**\
    Neighborhood Markets are billed as a convenient shopping choice for
    customers in search of groceries, pharmaceuticals and general
    merchandise. Generally, they are co-located in markets with Wal-Mart
    Supercenters. First opened in 1998, there are now more than 95
    Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Neighborhood Markets
    average 42,000 square feet, and offer a wide variety of products,
    including fresh produce, deli foods, fresh meat and dairy items,
    health and beauty aids, one-hour photo and traditional photo
    developing services, drive-through pharmacies, stationery and paper
    goods, pet supplies, and household chemicals. Neighborhood Markets
    employ 95 people on average and offer about 29,000 items.

-   **Sam's Club**\
    Sam's Club warehouses offer a broad selection of general merchandise
    and large- volume items. There are currently over 575 Sam's Club
    locations, averaging 132,000 square feet. Each Sam's Club employs an
    average of 160 to 175 people and offers approximately 5,500
    different products.

-   **International Operations\
    **Wal-Mart operates stores and clubs in 13 markets outside the
    continental U.S., serving more than 176 million customers around the
    globe each week.

**Damage from the storm**

Wal-Mart maintained hundreds of stores along in the Gulf Coast region
when Katrina struck in 2005. These stores, which employed hundreds of
people each, together provided over thirty-four thousand jobs in the
Gulf Coast area. Because of the sheer geographic span of the hurricane's
effects throughout the gulf coast, the event represented the single
largest disaster the company has ever endured in its decades of
operation. Combined with Hurricanes Rita and Wilma, which followed soon
after, Wal-Mart calculated that the company sustained \$40 million in
losses due to structure damages, business interruption, and looting.

At the height of the hurricane Wal-Mart oversaw the closure of 126
stores and two of its major distribution centers. Of these facilities,
over half lost power, and many were flooded. In total, 89 stores
reported having sustained wind or water damage. Most were reopened
within days or weeks, though a handful required significant repair
lasting several months.

Because of the run on emergency supplies in the affected areas, and in
some cases because of a breakdown in security, several of Wal-Marts
stores were looted by hurricane victims. This was most significant in
New Orleans, where the company maintained 12 stores. Wal-Mart elected to
do nothing to prevent the looting in recognition that many (but not all)
of the looters were simply looking for needed recovery supplies.

# Wal-Mart's Pre-Disaster Response

Wal-Mart's response to Hurricane Katrina began well before the storm
made landfall on the Gulf Coast. Because of the corporation's massive
size and worldwide reach, Wal-Mart maintains its own 24-hour emergency
operations center (EOC) staffed by up to ten employees during normal,
non-disaster situations (for the purpose of handling smaller scale
events such as product failures, injuries, fires, accidents, and other
routine events). This center, which tracks storms with special
meteorological equipment and software maintained at the EOC, began its
official response to Katrina when it was upgraded from a tropical storm
to a hurricane on August 24^th^.

On that first early day of the storm's progression, Wal-Mart's Business
Continuity Director, Jason Jackson, began managing the businesses
response operations from the Wal-Mart EOC. Over the course of the next
few days, as Katrina made its pass over southern Florida and continued
on towards the heavily-populated Gulf Coast region, Jackson was joined
by 50 Wal-Mart managers and support personnel (ranging from trucking
experts to loss-prevention specialists) to reflect the seriousness of
the response requirements. Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott, Jr., also began
participating in the response by means of twice-daily conference calls,
which allowed him to help guide the company's response.

The company's Emergency Operations Team began their preparations for the
storm in earnest by initiating the movement of storm-readiness supplies
and cleanup materials to Wal-Mart stores and SAM'S CLUBs both within and
around the areas expected to be most severely affected. On the Sunday
before the storm made landfall on the Gulf Coast, Mr. Jackson also
initiated delivery of a variety of emergency supplies, from generators
to dry ice to bottled water, to designated staging areas so that company
stores would be able to reopen quickly if predictions for disaster were
correct. Wal-Mart also considered the emergency supply needs of the
customers -- which differ significantly from normal shopping needs and
which can be a vital factor in the ability to recover -- and began
pre-loading trucks at its various distribution centers with these items
for delivery to the most needed locations once those locations were
known.

# Wal-Mart's Response During and After the Hurricane Made Landfall

One of Wal-Mart corporation's greatest business process strengths, which
it also used extensively throughout the response to Hurricanes Katrina,
Rita, and Wilma, is its vast system of information management. This
system, which was designed to ensure that the company's nationwide
inventory of products was accounted for and shifted in real time to
reflect actual demand, allowed the company to quickly locate and
transport the most needed products to the affected areas from its range
of stores and warehouses. These pre-stock movements, which included
food, water, generators, and other appropriate relief and recovery
supplies, began as soon as the predicted track of Katrina was known to
ensure that the products were in place before travel to the affected
sites became difficult or impossible.

During smaller hurricanes, Wal-Mart has provided disaster-related
shipments averaging between 200 and 400 containers of goods, both for
the purposes of sale and relief. Before, during, and following Katrina,
however, Wal-Mart shipped 2,500 containers to the region (in the first
two and a half weeks alone -- in comparison, Wal-Mart delivered a total
of 517 containers in response to the less destructive Hurricane Rita.)
To assist the affected communities, Wal-Mart also provided its drivers
and trucks in special instances to acquire and transport relief
supplies, water, food and clothing donated by outside community members
and organizations.

To ensure that all stores were able to benefit from this information
network -- even those that were in areas where communication failures
were widespread - Wal-Mart set up satellite links that provided reliable
phone and Internet service. These connections permitted those stores to
stay connected to headquarters, allowing even those stores in areas that
experienced several weeks of power loss to keep key equipment and
supplies in stock.

As the hurricane struck, many of the stores in the affected area lost
contact with the company's computerized inventory system. To accommodate
this breakdown, the EOC staff began fielding phone calls from stores
about what they needed. A 'replenishment team' was established to
reorder essential products on demand. By August 30^th^, hundreds of
Wal-Mart deliveries (some lead by police escort) were on their way to
stores throughout the Gulf Coast region to address the specific needs of
those stores that had lost power (with supplies such as generators and
dry ice).

On August 31^st^ at 8 a.m., as New Orleans began to flood, Wal-Mart CEO
H. Lee Scott Jr. called an emergency meeting of the company's top
officials and informed them about the response he wanted to see, stating
that he did not want a \"measured response\" to the hurricane. Over the
next few days, Wal-Mart\'s philanthropic response to Katrina would
include \$18 million in cash donations, 100 truckloads of free
merchandise, food for 100,000 meals and job security for all of its
displaced employees.

# Relief and Recovery In-Kind and Cash Assistance

Wal-Mart provided over \$3.5 million in hurricane relief and recovery
assistance in the form of products from its inventory and other products
it acquired for use by victims. Much of this relief assistance was
delivered by Wal-Mart to established distribution points, staffed by
local emergency officials, the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross,
or other organizations, and included ice, water, and food.

With the protection and assistance of police escorts, Wal-Mart truck
drivers delivered loads of ice and water into New Orleans. Elsewhere,
convoys of trucks carried critical supplies to affected areas, with the
makeup of the cargo dependant upon the needs of each destination, and
coordinated with National Guard distribution systems. To distribute
those supplies, Wal-Mart sent hundreds of 'associates' (the term
Wal-Mart uses for employees) to each location. In many of the locations
where trucks were sent, Wal-Mart provided the first relief assistance at
mass care staging sites, command centers and shelters. Recognizing the
informational needs of disaster victims, Wal-Mart also shipped 150
Internet-ready computers to shelters throughout the Gulf Coast.

Wal-Mart's disaster response and recovery efforts in the affected Gulf
Coast regions were focused in those areas where it could most
effectively provide assistance. On September 1^st^, for example,
Wal-Mart began drawing up plans to establish 'mini-Wal-Mart' stores in
areas impacted by the hurricane where access to needed recovery items
did not exist.  While these stores charged customers for their
purchases, many products (including clothing, diapers, baby wipes, food,
formula, toothbrushes, bedding and water) were given out free of charge
to those with a demonstrated need.

In Waveland, Mississippi, a mobile pharmacy was established when the
Wal-Mart store located there could not open because of damages
sustained. Only three weeks after the storm had passed, Wal-Mart
established a 16,000 square foot tent store in Waveland. This facility,
opened on September 23^rd^, 2005, included large quantities of
disaster-specific items. It also included a Connection Center for
victims to initiate cell phone service, a Kodak digital kiosk to help
with the search for missing persons, and a Tire Lube Express Center
which helped manage the high demand for tire repairs. The tent store,
known as "Wal-Mart Express," was reopened on November 17 as a new
concept store designed to meet the special needs of disaster-impacted
areas (see Appendix 2 for more information on the Wal-Mart Express
concept.)

Wal-Mart also donated the use of more than 25 of their facilities that
were vacant at the time. These facilities, dispersed throughout the
affected states, were used by emergency services as evacuee shelters,
supply depots and food pantries.  One particular facility was used as a
tent city for utility crews, while another was transformed into an
emergency dialysis clinic.  In all of these donated facilities, Wal-Mart
provided all of the utilities (e.g., electricity, telephone, heat,
water, garbage removal) free of charge.

In the Houston area, Wal-Mart donated approximately \$129,000 in
merchandise to provide for the mass-care needs of evacuees located at
the Houston Astrodome. A donation center was set up, staffed by two
managers and 45 store employees, to distribute five truckloads of
merchandise, which included:

-   Poster boards, index cards, mops, trash bags, etc.

-   Beds for storm victims and volunteers

-   A computer and fax machine

-   A TV, VCR and children's movies

-   Two members of Wal-Mart's local management team and 45 associate
    volunteers who were deployed to assist the Red Cross

Wal-Mart also delivered two truck loads of merchandise to the George R.
Brown Convention Center, which included:

-   Diapers

-   Formula

-   Undergarments

-   Sleeping bags

-   Baby beds

-   Office supplies (for doctors to use for storm victim triage)

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   20 pallet jacks (donated for use in moving donated goods)

Nationwide, Wal-Mart pharmacies filled prescriptions, free of charge, to
evacuees with emergency pharmaceutical needs, even if they did not have
a copy of their prescription. Free check cashing was also offered in 126
stores located in the hurricane-disaster area for the first two-week
after the hurricane hit, which included government, payroll and
insurance checks and computer-generated checks.

Other assistance provided to the affected communities included:

-   \$20,000 in cash donations were given to assist various animal
    shelters and organizations taking in lost animals in hurricane
    impacted areas

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   70 pallets of clothing were donated and shipped to World Vision\'s
    Gifts In Kind Warehouse in Dallas to help evacuees

-   Donation centers were set up by Wal-Mart employees in various
    shelters to help arriving evacuees in need of personal health and
    beauty products, clothing, diapers, wipes, tooth brushes, as well as
    food and water (all products donated by Wal-Mart)  

-   Wal-Mart partnered with CBS News\' The Early Show and United Way of
    America to sponsor \"Wishes for Kids,\" a holiday toy drive, which
    allowed customers to purchase items for the youngest children
    impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - more than 90,060
    toys/books were purchased in this effort

-   Wal-Mart partnered with Clear Channel Radio and The Salvation Army
    to support \"Gulf Coast: Bicycles or Bust,\" a drive with the goal
    of raising money to purchase 100,000 bicycles for Gulf Coast
    children in communities impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

**Wal-Mart Financial Assistance**

Wal-Mart provided financial assistance to the communities that were
affected by the storm, and to their own employees in the affected areas,
through the company's Wal-Mart Foundation. Even before the Hurricane
arrived, Wal-Mart announced that it would be providing a cash
contribution of \$1 million to The Salvation Army to assist them in
providing pre-disaster support for whatever disaster relief assistance
would be necessary. At that time, the Salvation Army was in the midst of
preparing to serve 400,000 meals per day to victims and first responders
through the use of 72 mobile canteens and two 54-foot mobile kitchens.
The Salvation Army was also deploying its comfort stations (which are
facilities where residents can wash their clothes or take a shower) and
emergency response command stations for officers to direct the response
efforts.

On September 1^st^, just two days after the hurricane struck, Wal-Mart
committed to a \$15 million donation to the hurricane relief fundraising
effort led by Presidents Bush and Clinton. This large donation was said
to have helped 'jump start' their efforts. These initial donations were
followed by subsequent donations of \$1 million each to the American Red
Cross and the Texas Governor's Relief Fund. In total, Wal-Mart
contributed \$18 million to the relief effort through these channels.

Wal-Mart also encouraged the general public to contribute financially to
the emergency relief efforts by donating via its 3,800 stores and SAM'S
CLUBS and through its Web sites. Through this effort, Wal-Mart raised an
additional \$8.5 million in public contributions made directly by
customers and employees. This money was administered directly to various
relief and rebuilding efforts as needs were determined by the Wal-Mart
foundation. Wal-Mart's cash funding to support more directed relief and
recovery efforts in the communities where Wal-Mart operated was provided
through distribution of this collected money. Examples of
community-based recipient organizations of Wal-Mart grants funded from
the customer and employee emergency relief fund, and the amount they
received, include:

-   Cash donations totaling \$20,000 to assist various animal shelters
    and organizations that cared for lost animals in hurricane-impacted
    areas

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Greater New Orleans, Inc., New Orleans - \$50,000

-   Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, Baton Rouge - \$50,000

-   Cameron Parish Police Jury, Jennings - \$100,000

-   Northshore Pelican Foundation, Covington - \$100,000

-   Project Rebuild Plaquemines, Belle Chasse - \$100,000

-   St. Bernard Parish Hurricane Relief Fund, St. Bernard Parish -
    \$100,000

-   Thomas Jefferson Relief Fund, Marrero - \$250,000

-   United Way Lake Charles, Lake Charles - \$250,000

-   America's New Orleans Fund, New Orleans - \$500,000

-   Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Baton Rouge - \$500,000

-   Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, Inc., Baton Rouge -
    \$500,000

**Assistance to Employees**

In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, more than more than 34,000
Wal-Mart employees were affected, either directly (because of injury or
property damage) or indirectly (e.g., store closings, loss of childcare
services). Wal-Mart used the greatly up-scaled Emergency Operations
Center to establish an emergency information telephone line, which
allowed the company to make contact with almost 98% of their employees
in order to verify safety and status.

To help more than 20,000 employees that were more significantly impacted
by the hurricane, Wal-Mart provided \$14.5 million in cash grants. Under
the employee assistance program that was established, any displaced
Wal-Mart employee was eligible for up to \$1,000 from the Associate
Disaster Relief Fund if their homes were flooded or destroyed.  The
funding was provided for the purpose of helping the employees to acquire
basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, etc.

Wal-Mart also provided employees with a quick injection of cash by
providing them with their salaries for the first three days after the
hurricane, whether or not they were scheduled to work. Any employees who
were displaced by the storm were offered employment at any one
Wal-Mart's line of stores located close to their new location.
Approximately 2,400 employees took advantage of this offer, with some
relocating as far away as California and Nevada (with the majority
choosing to relocate as close to home as possible).

Other relief and recovery efforts provided to employees include:

-   Medical and dental premiums were waived by the company during the
    initial pay period for hourly employees in affected areas

-   Wal-Mart employees (including management) visited the Houston
    Astrodome and at the George R. Brown Convention Center, waving signs
    and posting notices, in order to locate fellow employees who had
    been evacuated to these mass-care shelters

**The Online Emergency Registry**

Using its acclaimed system of information and communications technology,
Wal-Mart provided customers and employees with an online emergency
registry. A special web-based service was established to help customers,
employees, and the general public to access information and relief
services in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Customers and employees
were invited to email, post and search for messages regarding family and
friends. The service was also located on every one of Wal-Mart's many
websites (including walmart.com, samsclub.com, walmartstores.com,
walmartfacts.com, and walmartfoundation.org).  More than 50,000 people
accessed the message board in the weeks following the storm, and over
2.1 million people viewed the site.

Wal-Mart expanded the reach and efficacy of the emergency information
website by establishing a missing persons board. In order to help family
and friends locate victims, and to help victims relay information to
those searching for them, Wal-Mart provided a website where photos could
be uploaded, stored, and searched for free. Users who did not have
internet access or the appropriate scanning equipment at home or
elsewhere were given free access through the use of in-store photo
processing kiosks. Wal-Mart also offered to take and post photographs of
any person who wanted to do so for needs related to reuniting families.
Any of these photographs could be accompanied by contact information to
allow people who had seen or knew the whereabouts of victims to pass on
that information.

Another online and store-based service offered to employees, customers
and the general public was the online gift registry. Victims were
invited to visit any of Wal-Mart's various stores and create a
registered list of the items they wanted or needed to facilitate their
recovery. Friends, relatives, or strangers could search this registry
and provide these desired items directly to the victims. Wal-Mart
provided this service via use of special hiring center kiosks,
'connection center' kiosks, and existing gift registry computers located
at most of their stores. The service was also located on Wal-Mart's many
websites.  Within the first week, over 1,300 people had registered for
recovery items they needed. Another related registry started by
Wal-Mart, called 'Wished for Kids', allowed customers to donate toys to
child victims of Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.

**Praise for Wal-Mart**

Wal-Mart's massive scale as an international business was their greatest
advantage in allowing them to provide such fast, effective disaster
relief and recovery assistance. The Wal-Mart supply chain model has
since been held up as a model for logistical efficiency in the response
to disasters, and the company's emergency operations planning as an
example of highly-effective business continuity. It's methods for
quickly delivering much-needed emergency supplies like water, fuel and
toilet paper, to thousands of evacuees, is likely to be imitated in
future disasters.

Many officials and individuals in the public eye had much praise to
offer Wal-Mart following their commendable response to both their
employees' needs and also the needs of the communities where Wal-Mart
stores existed. President Clinton, who with former President Bush lead a
highly-visible hurricane relief fundraising effort, said that he hoped
Wal-Mart\'s plan to allow relocating employees to take jobs at Wal-Marts
across the country \"will give some guidance to our members of
Congress.\" During an emotional interview on \"Meet the Press,\" Aaron
F. Broussard (Jefferson Parish, LA, president) told host Tim Russert
that if \"the American government would have responded like Wal-Mart has
responded, we wouldn\'t be in this crisis.\"

Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott iterated the company's approach to the response
that brought them so much praise in stating, \"We can\'t do any more
than our own part. We are not the federal government. There is a portion
we can do, and we can do it darn well.\" Clearly, the speed and efficacy
of Wal-Mart\'s response and recovery to Katrina illustrates the ability
and value of "big-box retailers" like Home Depot to become key players
in future emergency management planning and response efforts. Whereas
other agencies must scramble for resources, these mammoth companies have
their own trucks, maintain their own distribution centers, and have a
truly national footprint. Most also have developed their own systems for
coordinating their response efforts internally, and several have even
participated in the planning process at multiple levels of government.
While Wal-Mart's efforts may have been the textbook example of corporate
participation in disaster response, they were but one of many companies
that have taken this responsible approach.

###  

**Appendix 1: Letter of Appreciation from Jefferson County Sheriff Harry
Lee**

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you how great Wal-Mart
and Sam's Club responded to our needs immediately after Hurricane
Katrina struck.

On Tuesday morning after the storm, I went to the Sam's Club parking lot
at Cleary and Airline Highway to talk with the F.E.M.A. Officials.
Shortly after that meeting Mr. Ronnie Hayes came up to me and introduced
himself and told me he would open the Harahan Store for us and for me to
tell all the emergency workers to go into that Wal-Mart store and take
whatever we needed.

Earlier that day we were allowed to take what we needed from the Sam's
Club store.

When I got to the Harahan Wal-Mart, the store was open and there was not
a single Wal-Mart employee on the premises. Not only did Wal-Mart invite
my personnel to take whatever they needed during this crisis, they
allowed ALL emergency workers to come into the store and take whatever
we needed.

Additionally, on Wednesday or Thursday after the storm, Wal-Mart sent
three truck loads of bottled water.

Also, the Wal-Mart store in Marrero that had generator produced
electricity allowed emergency workers to sleep in that Wal-Mart store
and they also provided hundreds of emergency workers staying there with
air mattresses and cots. Additionally, they opened that store for all
emergency workers to come in and take whatever we needed.

Additionally, either Thursday or Friday, Deputy Chief Craig Taffaro and
Colonel John Fortunato of my office escorted seven, repeat seven, large
Wal-Mart tractor trailers of water and clothing to the New Orleans
Police Department.

On the Sunday after the storm, Parish President Aaron Broussard quoted
me on Meet the Press as follows: \"Sheriff Lee stated that if responding
agencies had acted as quickly as Wal-Mart did, a lot of suffering we had
to endure would not have happened.\"

In the weeks ahead, I intend to take a full page ad in the
Times-Picayune to express everyone's appreciation to Wal-Mart and Sam's
Club for their generosity and necessary help to those emergency workers
responding to the greatest natural disaster ever to befall the
Continental United States.

Very truly yours,

HARRY LEE

Sheriff

**Appendix 2: The Wal-Mart Express Concept Store**

Wal-Mart opened their first Wal-Mart Express store in Waveland,
Mississippi, which was especially hard hit during Hurricane Katrina. The
new store was opened on the site of its formerly damaged Wal-Mart
Supercenter. 

The new store format offers a mix of merchandise focused solely on the
unique needs of the disaster-affected community that the store is built
to serve. The stores can be opened as "tent stores" if need be, in order
to provide products and services as quickly as possible -- as was the
case in Waveland.

The Wal-Mart Express concept differs drastically from a typical Wal-Mart
store.  According to Pam Kohn, a division senior vice president, "The
new prototype store will allow us to respond to this community's
immediate needs."  In Waveland, the 57,000 square foot Wal-Mart Express
was accessed by entering the damaged original Wal-Mart store's front
entrance, and was enclosed within the original 205,800 square foot
building by dust-proof, insulated walls.  The merchandise mix differed
from a typical Wal-Mart store in that it focused on essential items, in
the quantities and sizes needed for that particular community as they
continued to rebuild from the storm.  Examples of items offered
included:

-   Larger sized containers of paint and cleaning solutions, such as
    five gallon tubs;

-   Expanded hardware and home improvement items such as tools and
    cleaning products;

-   Large household items and appliances, such as washers, dryers,
    refrigerators and TVs;

-   Basic clothing items such as shirts, jeans, and shoes;

-   Frozen meat and packed food aisles and freezers, as well as dry food
    aisles;

-   Photo Center (film development is a large need by insurance
    adjusters and residents);

-   Pharmacy;

-   Cellular products and services and in-store kiosks for ordering
    larger items and quantities on-line

**References:**

Agence France Presse. 2005. Hurricanes Hit Wal-Mart Earnings. November
14.

Barbaro, Michael, and J. Gillis. 2005. Wal-Mart at the Forefront of
Hurricane Relief. The Washington Post. September 6. P.D1.

Featherstone, Liza. 2005. Wal-Mart to the Rescue!. The Nation. September
13.

PR Newswire. 2005. Wal-Mart Donates \$1 Million to the Salvation Army
for Katrina Relief. August 29.

Wal-Mart. 2007. Wal-Mart Retail Divisions. Wal-Mart Facts. April 4.

Wal-Mart. 2005. Katrina Relief Effort Fact Sheet. Wal-Mart Press
Release.

Wal-Mart. 2005. A Letter from Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee.
Wal-Mart Website.

Wal-Mart. 2005. Wal-Mart Helps Make Season Brighter. Wal-Mart Facts.
December 1.

Wal-Mart. 2005. Wal-Mart Creates Online Missing Persons Picture Board at
Walmart.com and Samsclub.com. Wal-Mart Facts. September 20.

Wal-Mart. 2005. Wal-Mart Opens Gift Registry for Hurricane Katrina
Victims. Wal-Mart Facts. September 12.

Wal-Mart. 2005. Wal-Mart Resolves to Help Rebuild the Gulf Coast by
Donating \$2.5 Million to Local Organizations. Wal-Mart Facts. September
12.

Wal-Mart. 2005. Online Emergency Registry to Hurricane Victims Find
Family Members; Emergency Stores Give Out Needed Supplies. Wal-Mart
Facts. September 2.

Wal-Mart. N/D. Wal-Mart's Hurricane Relief Efforts. Wal-Mart Fact Sheet.
http://www.walmartfacts.com/FactSheets/info.aspx?id=13

Wal-Mart. N/D. Wal-Mart and Sam's Club's Response to Hurricane Disaster
Continues. Wal-Mart Facts.

Worthen, Ben. 2005. How Wal-Mart Beat the Feds to New Orleans. CIO.Com.
November 1.

Zimmerman, Ann, and V. Bauerlein. 2005. At Wal-Mart, Emergency Plan has
Big Payoff. The Wall Street Journal. September 12. P. B1.

**Additional sources of information related to the Weyerhaeuser
response**

-   Ron Brown Award: <http://www.ron-brown-award.org/winners.cfm>

-   Weyerhaeuser Company: <http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/>

-   Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation:
    <http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/citizenship/philanthropy/weyerfoundation.asp>

-   North Carolina Baptist Men: <http://www.ncmissions.org/>

-   Rolling Hills Baptist Ministries:
    <http://www.rollinghillsministries.com/>

-   United Way of Pierce County: <http://www.uwpc.org/>

-   Weyerhaeuser Disaster Response Guide:
    <http://www.weyerhaeuser.com/katrina/>

Additional sources of information related to the Chevron response

-   Chevron Corporation Katrina Press Releases:
    <http://www.chevron.com/news/current_issues/hurricane_update.asp>

-   Chevron Corporation 2005 Corporate Responsibility Report:
    <http://www.chevron.com/cr_report/2005/downloads.asp>

-   Save the Children:
    <http://www.savethechildren.org/newsroom/2005/save-the-children-launches-campaign-to-help-children-after-katrina.html>

-   MSU Early Childhood Institute:
    <http://www.earlychildhood.msstate.edu/>

-   Rebuild Jackson County: <http://www.bacotmccarty.org/hrfMission.htm>

-   Coca-Cola Foundation:
    <http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/foundation_coke.html>

-   Chevron Foundation: <http://www.chevron.com/community/>

-   America's Second Harvest: <http://www.secondharvest.org/>

-   Coast Guard Foundation: <http://www.cgfdn.org/main.html>

-   Bacot/Jolly P. McCarty Foundation: <http://www.bacotmccarty.org/>

Additional sources of information related to the Wal-Mart response

-   Wal-Mart corporation website:
    [http://www.walmartstores.com/](http://www.walmart.com/)

-   Wal-Mart Facts website: <http://www.walmartfacts.com/>

-   Wal-Mart Foundation: <http://www.walmartfoundation.com/>

-   World Vision: <http://www.worldvision.org/>

# Glossary of Terms

Timberlands - Forested land, especially land containing timber of
commercial value.

Groundwood - Pulp created by the action of mechanically grinding wood.

Containerboard - solid fiber or corrugated and combined paperboard used
in the manufacture of shipping containers.

Crude oil - A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in
natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric
pressure after passing through surface separating facilities.

**Acronyms**

ECI -- Early Childhood Institute

EOC -- Emergency Operations Center

EPOS -- Electronic Point of Sale

FEMA -- Federal Emergency Management Agency

LPS -- Lighted Price Sign

MSU -- Mississippi State University

NACCRRA -- National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral
Agencies

SBA -- Small Business Administration

# Discussion Questions

General:

1.  What responsibility, if any, do companies have to their employees in
    the event of a disaster?

2.  What responsibility, if any, do companies have to the communities
    where they serve in the event of a disaster?

3.  What responsibilities, if any, does a community have in regards to
    helping the companies that operate within its boundaries in the
    event of a disaster?

4.  Should companies help their employees prepare for disasters? Why or
    why not?

5.  Do you believe that Federal disaster funding should be provided to
    disaster-affected companies? Why or why not?

6.  Do companies provide humanitarian assistance out of
    self-preservation and to improve their public image, or out of true
    corporate responsibility? Provide examples to support your answer.

7.  Should US citizens depend more upon their employer or their
    government to provide them with assistance in the aftermath of a
    major disaster?

Weyerhaeuser Assists Its Disaster-Impacted Employees

1.  How was Weyerhaeuser's business well positioned to assist the
    community in its disaster response efforts? How was it limited?

2.  Is Weyerhaeuser's response handbook universally applicable to all
    companies affected by disasters? Why or why not?

3.  What did Weyerhaeuser stand to benefit from the Loaned Employee
    Program?

4.  Do you believe that Weyerhaeuser's participation in the disaster
    response efforts improved its public image? Did it improve its image
    among Weyerhaeuser employees?

Chevron Meets the Needs of the Communities Where it Works

1.  Should energy companies like Chevron be considered critical
    infrastructure? Why or why not?

2.  Did Chevron have a responsibility to the country to conduct a speedy
    recovery considering the importance of gasoline? Why or why not?

3.  Why is childcare so important in the aftermath of a disaster?

4.  Are private tent cities better or worse than the provision of FEMA
    trailers in the aftermath of a disaster? Why or why not?

5.  Do you believe that Chevron's participation in the disaster response
    efforts improved its public image? Did it improve its image among
    Chevron employees?

**Wal-Mart's Response to Hurricane Katrina**

1.  Was Wal-Mart better positioned than the Federal Government to
    provide disaster relief? Why or why not? Should this come as a
    surprise?

2.  Was Wal-Mart's pre-disaster response sufficient? Why or why not?

3.  Should all large public corporations be required to maintain an
    emergency operations center? Should these EOCs be connected to the
    community EOC?

4.  Why do you think Wal-Mart did nothing to stop the looting of their
    stores?

Suggested Out Of Class Exercises

1.  Contact your local office of emergency management, and determine if
    your community has any existing agreements with private businesses
    located in the community that guide the provision of disaster
    assistance by those businesses.

2.  Choose a major disaster in US history that happened before 2000, and
    determine what assistance, if any, businesses provided to their
    employees. Did these companies provide any assistance to the
    community? How has corporate responsibility changed with regards to
    disaster response and recovery?

3.  Wal-Mart was dealing with image problems in the years leading up to
    Hurricane Katrina. Using various news archives, determine if the
    Wal-Mart response to Hurricane Katrina significantly improved
    Wal-Mart's public image.

4.  Since Hurricane Katrina, many communities have made plans to address
    child care issues in the aftermath of a disaster. Determine if your
    community has made any changes to its emergency operations plan, or
    in any other way, to address this important function.

5.  Do you feel that private corporations should be included in the
    National Response Plan in a similar way to how the American Red
    Cross is involved? What are the advantages and disadvantages to
    having private corporations assume disaster response and recovery
    functions?