BERM was called into action to assist a customer with on site project oversight of several debris removal contractors in southeast Texas for Hurricane Harvey and again in the central Florida area for Hurricane Irma. The BERM “GO BAG” was on the ready this past hurricane season and the weather channels were on 24/7 while all watched and waited for these storms to make landfall. When the storms moved on, BERM went into action with immediate mobilization to the respective areas. Though storms like these are noted for their destruction of property by high wind velocity and flooding, subsequent power outages also occur resulting in the shut-down of businesses. Power outages result in the shutdown of coolers and freezers in retail grocery stores. BERM assisted the customer’s debris removal teams with the expedient removal and disposal of all spoiled perishables from dozens of locations throughout the affected areas. This quick action allows the retailers the ability to restock their coolers and freezers with fresh product to serve their communities, once again proving that a public/private mutual aid response is the most effective form of mitigation when it comes to post disaster recovery. No public disaster response organization could have done this alone.
