Promotional products companies in Texas were working to get operations back to normal Tuesday, July 9, after Hurricane Beryl slammed into the Lone Star State, knocking out power to millions and killing a reported eight people.
Some of the worst effects of the storm, which weakened into a still-dangerous tropical depression as it spread fierce winds and intense rain in its northeasterly track, were felt in the Houston area, where a reported 1.7 million CenterPoint Energy customers remained without power amid stifling hot and humid temperatures Tuesday morning.
Promo companies and their personnel were not immune to the impacts of the storm. Houston-based Hirsch (asi/61005), a family-owned supplier that specializes in providing retail brands to the merch market, closed on Monday, July 8, as a result of Beryl. The firm was getting back into the swing of things Tuesday.
“While we do have some intermittent power and internet issues, we are open, taking orders and production is running,” George Morgan, Hirsch’s director of marketing, told ASI Media. “With the issues city-wide, we do expect some delays fulfilling specific orders and our team will be in contact with customers that this impacts.”
Morgan reported that Hirsch’s facilities did not sustain damage. He said employees are safe and accounted for but are still contending with storm-related issues.
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“We do have many team members who do not have power and/or internet, and we have opened up our facilities to any of those team members and their families that need to charge devices, require power, etc.,” Morgan said.
Landes (asi/66230), a Houston-based supplier whose specialties include totes and other bags, lacked power on Tuesday but was trying to get generators going to help power its customer service operations.
“The concern is late ship dates,” Landes President Sonny DeShong told ASI Media. “We take deadlines very seriously, and it kills us to have something like this that is out of our control. The impact should be short-lived for us, but for our wonderful customers it will be major if they don’t get the products they need in time.”
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DeShong noted that the hurricane comes just a couple of months after a derecho – a storm packing powerful winds and rain – swept through the Houston area, taking down power for days and killing at least seven people. “It was equally devastating,” DeShong said.
Bullpen Marketing (asi/150076), a distributorship located in Houston, was without power Tuesday and dealing with limited internet access. Fortunately, company team members based in Tennessee and Dallas were helping to keep business running smoothly, according to Katherine Smith, vice president of operations.
Bullpen’s Houston-headquartered crew was aiming for its operations to be back to normal by Wednesday. “Thankfully, the damage was minor to our homes, and all on our team are safe and dry,” Smith shared with ASI Media.
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Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record while traveling over ocean water last week. Category 5 hurricanes are the most severe. The storm reached Texas (near Matagorda) as a Category 1 hurricane and later became a tropical rainstorm. Beyond power outages, Beryl’s torrential rain has caused dangerous flooding and reportedly spawned tornados in Louisiana as it traveled northeast.
Forecasters were predicting that the tropical rainstorm would soon exit the South and affect midwestern states and possibly parts of the Northeast. AccuWeather said 2 to 4 inches of rain would be common in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and northwestern Ohio, while parts of Arkansas and northwestern Indiana could see 4 to 8 inches. Localized amounts could be heavier – as much as a foot of rain.
Forecasters are calling for “an extremely active” hurricane season in the Atlantic. “We anticipate a well above-average probability for major hurricane landfalls along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean,” said forecasters with Colorado State University.
