Hurricane Sandy Told by Mike Soukup Director
of Sales and Marketing
I arrived Monday
10-29 waiting for the arrival of Sandy. I teamed up with my buddies from NOAA
and headed for Manhattan 10-30 received call from my contact at Hertz Corporation
that their facility in Newark NJ had been under 7 feet of water. Since they are
the premiere sponsor for vehicles at the NYC Marathon they needed to be up and
running in (4) days. Responded to site at 8am , had operations with reserve
power and equipment on site by 10am.
The facility next door was Cummins Power , a major generator supplier for area and we responded to their facility also with additional equipment and personnel.
Our mobile command center allows us to maintain satellite
communication with our field operations group as well as Internet and voice
communication with our home office in Minneapolis. With the ability to sleep 6
people we can be a 24/7 response.
Our truck mounted desiccant can dry 5000 cubic feet per
minute and has its own 150 kilowatt generator for additional power
At 7pm , both jobs are up and running , water is being extracted and the sorting of Salvage and non-salvage items started. The devastation here is beyond description , some say as bad as Katrina in many respects. 6 million w/o power and temps in 40's and no gas to get somewhere. Store shelves are bare, trees are down and lower Manhattan is out of commission for days , maybe weeks...
10-31 back at both Hertz and Cummins full involved in
demolition and debris removal
We have 16 SRM personnel from our Maple Grove - St Paul and
Madison offices working with 50 temporary labor personnel.
Two new jobs sourced
today , Dress Barn retail store in Belleville Mall and Sally Beauty Supply
warehouse will start tomorrow. Gas and
diesel fuel are major issues as lines are 3-4 hours waiting in line and tempers
are short. One man shot dead because he cut in line... OMG! Finally found hotel rooms for everyone about 40 miles away in
Edison.......Happy Halloween.....
11-1 to 11-4 all jobs fully involved with progress being
made......Hertz able to get back into shop and meet its commitment for marathon
only to have it cancelled at the 11th hour....at least we did our part. Seeing RATS now.....some big as my cat Hootie!
Traffic makes getting
supplies a logistical nightmare and since Friday am my new title is resource
co-ordination......everything from fuel , dumpsters , portable bathrooms , temp
labor , lighting , food and trips to Grainger and Home Depot are now of highest
priority. Everything is needed NOW !!
Days start at 5am and go till 11pm. The good news is that we are now
getting fuel delivered each day.
All this time Randy Hedden has been coordinating the power
generation for all of the affected Target stores in New Jersey , New York and
Connecticut. This is a 24/7 job and keeping the lights on in these stores so
people can shop and get what they need is critical. Fueling and service calls
at all hours, but the stores have all stayed on line!!
11-6 update......
Great concern today
over the impending storm and what flooding will occur. As we are located right
on the waterfront any amount of storm surge could undo 8 days of hard work. We
are watching the water levels and are positioned for a "rapid
evacuation" if the circumstances call for. Many people on outer banks
foregoing evacuation, as one person put it to me “nothing left to loose"
Gas lines have
decreased as the "even - odd" system seems to be working very
smoothly.
We are well into our job at the NJ Port Authority , massive
warehouse system that needs to be cleaned up as containers pile up in the
holding areas. Saw many containers marked for retail stores with toys
!!!!! Don't worry though , I'm sure
Santa knows where to find them.
Current temp 31 with winds about 30-35 and
gusting.....gettin pretty sporty again
Sun rose bright over the New Jersey shore today as we begin
our 11th day of work after hurricane Sandy's devastation. The crew's work has
been outstanding and we are almost 2 full days ahead of schedule for finishing
our major jobs at Hertz sand Cummins International. Customers are excited
as each day they see the progress we make in bringing their facility back to
pre-loss condition and they can get back to work and some small sense of
normality. It is interesting to watch the interaction of our crews with
the people at different catastrophes we service, from Florida to Louisiana and
now New Jersey. They represent Minnesota and the Midwest well and find the
diversity in this country amazing. Workers are workers no matter where in the
country you are and the common ground is found very quickly no matter where you
are from.
What a great country!
Mike Soukup
Service Master
Director of Sales and Marketing
Sounds like you guys are all doing a Fantastic job. Keep up the great work! Hope to hear more amazing stories as the work continues. I am sure everyone out there appreciates your dedication and time to help them.
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