Emergency News

Oronite Completes Hurricane Recovery

Just two short weeks ago Hurricane Ike barreled into Texas -- the second hurricane to impact Oronite in as many weeks.  Our Oak Point plant in Belle Chasse, LA, was recovering from the effects of Hurricane Gustav when Ike hit Houston and darkened our Regional Offices. 

Houston was difficult to navigate in the first days: streets were blocked by downed trees, by standing water, and by power lines.  Most residents were without power.  Some areas of the city were cautioned to boil water.  And gasoline was difficult to find and required waiting in long lines.  Yet the Oronite Crisis Management Team that had evacuated to San Antonio in advance of the storm was joined by a hearty contingent of 20+ business critical employees who were back in their Houston offices by the Wednesday following the storm. 

Now, two weeks later, our business recovery is nearly complete.  Now when we assess our situation we can say:

• All of our employees are accounted for and safe
• All of our critical processes (Operations, Supply Chain, Transportation, Customer Service) are functioning at pre-Gustav levels
• All of our non-critical processes are also functioning at pre-Gustav levels

Today our recovery has progressed on plan and we are returning to pre-Gustav activities and operations.

Special thanks go to our employees who set aside recovery of their residences to work on Oronite business recovery; to our raw material suppliers (who in some cases were also dealing with their own storm related issues); to our transportation partners (truck, rail and barge); and most importantly to our customers, who worked closely with Oronite during this challenging period.  Our own recovery could not have been so swift without their support.