story by Kim Souza
ksouza@thecitywire.com
When tragedy strikes, Wal-Mart is often one of the first on the scene to help as the retailer mans its own storm watch and disaster teams from its central command center at the Bentonville home office.
The retailer’s weather system is linked into The Weather Channel in a partnership deal, as Wal-Mart continually has one eye on the world’s weather at nearly all times.
The F-5 tornado that ripped apart Moore, Okla., on Monday (May 20) hit the retailer close to home, leaving behind a 17-mile path of destruction, 24 fatalities, 240 injured, hundreds homeless and thousands without power.
Wal-Mart said Tuesday (May 21) its two supercenter stores in Moore are open, but the company is still trying to make contact with all of its employees in that region. A Neighborhood Market in the region was damaged and remains closed, although the company is working to get it operational.
“While we feel very fortunate that none of our associates or customers were injured inside our two stores in Moore, we continue working very hard to make contact with all of our associates who live and work in the area to make sure they and their families are okay. Our primary focus right now is meeting the immediate needs of our associates, some of who have lost everything,” the retailer notes in a press release.
Wal-Mart sent teams from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas into the areas to help staff stores so Walmart employees in the tornado-torn area can be with their families. The teams include crisis counselors to help with the overwhelming emotional needs right now.
“We send our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones, and we are working on several ways to support the community. In the aftermath of any disaster, we understand that helping people and communities meet their basic needs is the first step toward restoring normalcy. With several residents and businesses affected by these devastating storms, we want to ensure our community has access to the things they need to recover,” according to Katy Cody, Wal-Mart spokeswoman.
Wal-Mart said it has pledged $1 million in cash and in-kind donations to help ensure the essential needs of residents are being met.
The retailer is directing truckloads of water, food and other basic items to the area to help the community during this difficult time as they work in conjunction with the Salvation Army, Red Cross and other agencies to monitor further ways to help.
Wal-Mart has five Sam’s Clubs in the area which have all stepped up efforts to help. Sam’s is temporarily waiving membership requirements to support residents and the communities impacted. The clubs are also establishing free power stations so residents with out power can recharge their mobile devices, laptop computers and other electronic devices.
More than 40,000 residents remained without power on Tuesday afternoon, according to Oklahoma Gas & Electric.
Early estimates of the storm’s damage top $1 billion as the F-5 tornado stayed on the ground for roughly 40 minutes. Moore, with a population of 55,000, is about the size of Rogers.