Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1289192
ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 Page 11 In Florida, the attorney general has established a hot line to report allegations of price gouging at 866-9NO- SCAM. Other states should have similar arrangements. Having had extensive experience with Hurricane Irma in 2017 that hit Naples and the surrounding areas, JW Craft is an excellent resource in the matter of hurricanes. Jason Odom—Texas Disposal Systems—Hurricanes and Tornadoes Texas Disposal Systems serves the Texas and Louisiana coast. Jason Odom is extremely experienced in working in disaster areas including Hurricane Katrina in 2005. His knowledge also extends to tornadoes, yet another natural disaster where portable sanitation plays an integral role. Recently, hurricane Laura hit the Lake Charles, Louisiana area on August 27th as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 mph. A week later an estimated 177,000 people lacked running water and another 324,000 people were still without power. These are examples of the magnitude of these storms and the tremendous impact on the residents and companies in such areas. Jason and Texas Disposal rose to the occasion in assisting with the aftermath of hurricane Laura. "We finalized our plan three days prior to landfall," Jason explains. "At this point, the National Weather Service had reduced the impact location to a 'cone of probability' and we began deployment to this area." Texas Disposal was contracted to create a "camp" for the power companies to use. In 24 hours, Jason and his team had the necessary equipment ready to go for 500 power employees. This equipment included portable restrooms, shower trailers, laundry trailers, sleeping areas, and dumpsters. He also states the reality of the enormity of this work. "You may have to sleep in your truck as all of this is happening, but that is what is needed to help those affected by disasters." Jason also mentioned another, possibly overlooked area of customer need: RVs. Rescue employees and their smaller teams use RVs as sleeping areas, food preparation areas, and temporary meeting areas. At one point, Texas Disposal was pumping 25,000 gallons of grey water per day to help the power company. Here is an instance where contracting a large septic company could assist in waste removal while the operator's service trucks can remain on site. Jason mentioned that his company has two of the "camps" as described above as well as five chemical plants that need restroom facilities due to outages. Tornadoes were another area that Jason spoke from experience. "Tornadoes can be somewhat predictable [in their likelihood], but very unpredictable in their paths." For example, hurricane Gustav hit on August 31, 2008 and as it moved across the Southeast, it created a series of tornadoes. Jason reflects on his company providing service for Alabama Power when a huge band of tornadoes that went through a 300-mile area of that state. Tips for Effective Operations around Natural Disasters…continued from page 8 Continued on page 16 TDS employees monitor Hurricane Laura.