IAMC Director of Event Planning Angel Fortenberry reports that several hotel chains are relocating

Giving was brisk at this Wal-Mart Donation Center for Katrina evacuees in Dallas, Texas.

In an appearance earlier this week by former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, efforts from corporate IAMC member companies Wal-Mart and Entergy, among others, were singled out for praise. Wal-Mart has established a Web site to keep its customers and employees informed about the relief effort, which includes some $17 million already donated by the company, as well as "mini-Wal-Marts" established in affected areas. "This is a unique situation which calls for unique solutions," said Wal-Mart CEO and former logistics chief Lee Scott.

Other IAMC member organizations and their affiliates across the board are rising to the challenge. Even as Florida is still sprinkled with blue-tarped reminders of its 2004 hurricane season, the state sent nearly 1,200 emergency and law enforcement personnel and a 1,000-person self-contained base camp with resources for rescue workers. Texas, which boasts a pacesetting 44 IAMC members, is now temporary quarters for some 240,000 Katrina refugees. Gov. Rick Perry is working with several governors to airlift some victims to other states, including West Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Oklahoma and Utah.

Utility member companies are of course working around the clock, with able assistance from trucks, equipment and personnel deployed by utilities across North America. As of 6 a.m. on Sept. 7, Mississippi Power, the Southern Co. affiliate of IAMC member company Georgia Power, had restored power to 65 percent of its 194,228 pre-Katrina customers, and projected full restoration by Sunday, Sept. 11. Entergy, meanwhile, had restored electrical service to more than 639,000 of the 1.1 million customers affected by Hurricane Katrina, and had relocated its headquarters to an interim location in Clinton, Miss., near Jackson. By Sept. 6, TXU Electric Delivery had sent a 23-vehicle convoy from Dallas to bases in Covington and Galliano, La. Louisville-based LG&E and its affiliate KU have sent some 250 workers to the area, as well as donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross. Meanwhile, Duke Energy and parent company Duke Power have sent 1,300 workers to the affected areas and donated up to $200,000 to the Red Cross.

IAMC member Peggy Smith of Cullman Economic Development in Alabama, reported last week that a New Orleans family caravan of 48 people grew by one while seeking respite in Cullman, some seven hours to the north of the disaster area. Jade Leshelle Joseph was born on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at the Cullman Regional Medical Center.

Nearly every major multinational is doing something to either offer direct help or raise funds that will be necessary for Katrina survivors’ long-term recovery. IAMC member company BASF is donating $1 million to agencies supporting relief and recovery in the company’s site communities across the Gulf, and has also established a relief fund in partnership with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. CSX, while battling to restore damaged and deluged track and facilities, is also contributing up to $700,000 in employee and community assistance, including contributions to its Employee Disaster Relief Fund, which it established to help employees in the wake of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Meanwhile, Chevron has donated $3 million and General Electric $1 million to the American Red Cross.

"We're extraordinarily gratified at the number of businesses which have called, written, emailed and even visited offering their support and equipment," said Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response and head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in a Sept. 3 news release. : "But we need to coordinate all of these donations so we can get them to the people who need them most."

To that end, Homeland Security has activated its National Emergency Resource Registry, to match needs with available resources that individuals, organizations, agencies and corporations may have to offer. For more information or to register your product or service, visit https://www.fema.gov/ and click on "Help The Victims of Hurricane Katrina —Register Your Business To Provide Relief."

IAMC is offering a bundle of disaster recovery and business continuity resources as well as an interactive forum for sharing recovery stories and guidance. Got a Katrina story to tell? Drop a line to Adam Bruns, "IAMC Dispatch" editor and Site Selection managing editor, at adam.bruns@conway.com.