Stories

On September 14, Hurricane Florence made landfall on the East Coast of the United States as a Category 1 storm.

Florence ravaged parts of the Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland with strong winds and heavy rainfall resulting in unprecedented damage and flooding to the region. Property damage and economic losses totaled more than $17.9 billion (USD) in North and South Carolina alone.KBR's office in Wilmington, North Carolina, suffered significant damage from the storm and an on-site evaluation determined that the office was uninhabitable, forcing the Wilmington team to vacate the property.

All employees were accounted for; however, three employees could not return to their homes and were forced to seek temporary lodging. Road closures and continued flooding in the local area made traveling to the office nearly impossible, too. KBR's office in Wilmington, NC, was severely damaged after Hurricane Florence ripped through the area, causing catastrophic flooding and damage to the region.KBR's Corporate HSSE team in Houston and leadership in KBR offices in the region immediately began monitoring the situation in Wilmington and have stayed heavily involved in the recovery process which began in September.

Through constant communication and collaboration, HSSE has provided assistance and ensured that all Wilmington staff were cared for and the business was still able to function despite significant property and equipment damage. These KBR employees have shown great resilience in the face of difficult challenges. Even so that during discussions regarding displaced employees, Peter Howe, KBR Executive Vice President and leader of the Regional Crisis Management Team, was quoted saying, If we need to get a boat to them, we'll get a boat."The Wilmington office recovery effort has been a team effort with the help of a number of groups within KBR. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, KBR's Human Resources group was able to find temporary lodging for employees who were displaced from their homes.

KBR employee Susan Coleman, whose home suffered heavy storm damage, credits the 'One KBR' attitude shown by all parties that allowed her to get back to work so quickly despite losing so much. "I can't thank KBR enough for the help they provided and support," said Coleman. "It has been a challenge for our group with no office to work at, but we are a great team and will 'endeavor to survive' by providing excellent work for KBR no matter where we have to do it."With the help of KBR's Information Technology and Real Estate departments, damaged equipment such as laptops, docking stations, computer monitors and servers were shipped to Houston and replaced shortly thereafter. Internet and network connectivity were established and employees were able to resume working remotely. Even in light of a major hurricane, business continuity remained a high priority throughout the company so that other parts of the business would not be affected.

Despite losing so much, the entire KBR team was resilient in making necessary accommodations to ensure that all employees were safe and able to get back to work as quickly as possible.KBR employee Thomas Byrne, Facility Operations Manager, who was also the Incident Commander, has executed the Wilmington office recovery with the help of other leadership. He said, "It is important to note that KBR personnel are our most valuable asset and that every measure was to be taken to ensure their safety. To this day the response team and all involved have performed exceptionally and it is remarkable how resilient they are."Thomas' involvement in the response effort began when he received a request to find a temporary home for Susan Coleman while the storm passed.

"Finding temporary lodging for Susan involved not only checking hotel availability, but also cross-referencing state websites for road closures to determine if the hotel was reachable and not in a flood zone," said Byrne. He eventually found a hotel in nearby Fayetteville, North Carolina, for Susan and her pet. "I spoke to Susan frequently and it was comforting knowing that she was safe," he added.All Wilmington staff are currently working remotely while the office undergoes renovations; however, the Wilmington office remains fully operational thanks to the many parties involved throughout this process who stressed the importance of business continuity and safety while abiding by the One KBR mindset."