Lowe’s Mobilizes Massive Relief Effort for Hurricane Helene Victims

Reynolds and his team had to wade through waist- high rushing water to get to safety when the creek next to the store overflowed. "That water was moving pretty quickly but we made it across over to safety." When the water started to recede, there was a mess left behind but within a matter of hours, more than a dozen people from Charlotte area Lowe's stores came to help.

"The day that our store flooded, that evening teams from all across our region came together to support my team. While we were struggling with things at home, they started cleaning. The support has been amazing."

Several store and district leaders, associates and regional team led the charge to reopen Boone in less than 24 hours.

"There were probably 20 people there Friday night. As we arrived there was mud and water inside the store. The mud was pretty deep in the parking lot, so we got some people with forklifts to push the mud away from the store." They got creative in the process. "We used Zambonis, squeegees to move water and mud and about that time in the evening, Lowe's got a third- party company with machines to move the water even faster."

Once that was done, the team worked to restock the store so they could re-open to the public. Incredibly, they did just that, opening their doors Saturday morning, the day after the flood hit.

"We're the only big box store open in town right now. We are here with supplies that people need to be able to survive in their homes, everything from water to generators, to cleanup materials. Lowe's has made sure we've been in stock the entire time and we're able to serve everyone in need," Reynolds said.

In Florida, a similar sentiment.

"We're just here for them. We've got all the supplies they need," said, Sarasota Store Manager, Dan Pettersch. Sarasota County faced historic storm surge when the hurricane made landfall. "We're trying to stay open as long as they need us to. If people are on their way in and they call and if we're getting ready to close, we'll stay open for them. We opened the doors a little early this morning for people that were waiting. We're just trying to do everything we can to get people in and out of here as quickly as they can so that they can repair their homes."

Pettersch was at home when the eye came through, having made sure the store was prepared. "We got our generators down, gas cans, tarps, a lot of stuff to help the people for after the storm when the electricity goes out. We had a lot of storm preparation stuff in the aisles, and we were all prepared. By the time we closed the store down, everything was ready for the next morning when we opened up," he explained.

He's also doing his best to help his own teammates who were hit in the hurricane.

"I've got a few associates that have some pretty bad water damage. One of the associates lost their vehicle, another one had about four to six feet of water in their home. So, we've got a couple of people that had some damage, but most of us have fared pretty well."

More than 25 stores in the impacted areas will host Bucket Brigade events and more than 40 donation store accounts have been set up for teams to work with first responders and community emergency managers for product donations.

Customers can also support American Red Cross relief efforts by rounding up their transaction to the nearest whole dollar at checkout in Lowe's stores through November 3rd. These donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters across the country, including Hurricane Helene. 

"If anybody needs anything, we're here for them. All they have to do is ask. We're more than willing to help. We've gave out some water to some folks. We actually put a whole truckload of supplies together that's going up to the panhandle and up to the Big Bend area to help out with some relief people that were in here that needed some supplies. So, we donated to them too," Pettersch said.

In North Carolina Reynolds said his teams have the same attitude, having donated water to the town of Boone and much more. "People depend on us. They need us and we show up for them. With all the employees coming in from other stores, it's incredibly important that Lowe's be open for the community and that we also continue supporting our associates."

Moss is grateful for the way the company came together to support the stores in need.

"Our leadership team and people and so many people behind the scenes are making it happen," he said.

"It's just a great sense of community and pride and taking care of each other," Reynolds said. "We take care of the associates, and we take care of the customers."

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