Hurricane Irma has reached Puerto Rico and other Caribbean island countries, and is on track to make landfall in Florida on Sunday as a Category 4 storm, Reuters reported. So far, the storm has killed 10 and caused significant damage in Barbuda, St. Martin and the British Virgin Islands.
In the following 48 hours after hitting Florida, residents can expect storm surges and flooding. Currently, the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area is dealing with a gas shortage, with sales five times higher than normal.
As we saw in Texas during Hurricane Harvey, the storm conditions can cause promotional products businesses to close or change their hours. A few companies have already reached out to say that they’re open as usual, but braced for that to change.
- Hit Promotional Products says it is operating normally, but the local government has started mandatory evacuations in the area.
- Bel Promo, based in Medley, Fla., said it’s also still open as usual, but has its employees safety at the top of its priorities, so that is subject to change.
- BIC Graphic, based in Clearwater, Fla., said in an email to Promo Marketing that it is “monitoring the storm hourly,” keeping safety and security of employees in mind. Based on the current trajectory of the storm, the company plans to stay open.
But, as meteorologists have pointed out, the projections do not dictate the path of the storm. So, if plans do change, let us know.
If your company has any news to report, please send information to Sean Norris at [email protected], and we’ll get the message out to your customers via our social media pages and Headlines newsletter.
