When Hurricane Bonnie Arrived, Thermo King Of Wilson Was Ready

Unfortunately Thermo King of Wilson, Inc. has had experience – too much of it – in dealing with the aftershock of a devastating hurricane. The most recent time, before last month, was in September, 1996, when Hurricane Fran struck the eastern North Carolina area, leaving thousands of homes, businesses and public facilities without any means for protecting perishable items.

"The experience prepared us for the development of procedures to not only handle our operational needs but also to provide refrigerated equipment during an emergency," said Jo Ann Stallings, operations manager at Thermo King of Wilson.

So with the pending arrival of Hurricane Bonnie, a memo from Bobby Williamson went out to his dealerships in Wilson and Raleigh, N.C. The memo, which covered everything from availability of personnel and equipment to extension cords for generators and backup batteries for cell phones, was part of an overall plan that was already being put into action.

Drivers were transferring reefers to Wilson and Raleigh from Williamson's Greenville, S.C. and Atlanta, Ga. dealerships. Price sheets and delivery costs were established for various cities, as were guidelines for handling a customer waiting list. Personnel meetings were held to discuss family safety and security and to advise on staying in contact with management.

"We knew that our services might be required by lots of people and that we would need as many technicians as possible," said Stallings. "The attitude and response of our employees was superb."

The first call to Thermo King of Wilson came at 6:45 a.m. Monday, August 24, from Wilson County Schools requesting a rental trailer to store frozen foods for the school cafeterias. Thirty minutes later, a food processing company, Old South Foods in Lucama, N.C., called for a reefer to preserve their inventory of spaghetti sauce, frozen meat and other foods.

"Our plant is located in the country five miles outside of Lucama," explained Henry Polythress, general manager of Old South. "A severe storm could leave us without electrical power for an extended period."

All day long the phone continued to ring from customers seeking refrigerated storage trailers: Prisons, airline food vendors, convenience stores, grocery stores, farmers. Between calls, management staff continued, too, to draft emergency procedures in preparation for Hurricane Bonnie.

The storm location was monitored throughout the next two days. At 2 p.m. Wednesday, August 26, with winds and rain converging on the Wilson area, the dealership began to send employees home.

Fortunately – this time – for eastern North Carolina, the storm winds were not as strong as expected. Therefore, damage was far less than caused previously by Hurricane Fran. But no one at the dealership or customer sites regretted taking precautions, because the "it's better to be safe than sorry" cliché indeed applied.

As for what happened specifically to Thermo King of Wilson, "our only damage resulted from a leaky roof," said Jo Ann. "The computer and printer were salvaged. But the desk pad," she added, "is history!"