Pest Management Professional, September 2011

COVER STORY weathering the storm Continued from page 24 Whether it was divine intervention luck or karma American didnt suffer the same devastating hit many of its neighbors suffered The whole landscape is changed permanently Russell says After the storm when I looked outside I could see buildings Ive never able to see because two entire city blocks are now gone A Plan in Place Russell arrived at his office the day after the tornado to assess the destruction to the neighborhood Local authorities had moved from building to building spraypainting Authorities marked unsafe Springfield businesses and residences with red Xs giant red Xs on the fronts of structures deemed dangerous His business however with its foundation and most of its structure still intact was spared the scarlet letter That was all the go ahead Russell needed to start his business humming along once again Trust me he says Im the last person to do disaster planning Im the last one to think of things in that manner How then can a company with no disaster plan on Wednesday evening survive a tornado that rips off its roof and reopen for business by Friday of the same week Russell cites technology and the de facto disaster plan that organically Irene Storm Season 2011 s Last Blast One would hope that Hurricane Irene We went ve days without power but had which rocked the entire eastern seaboard at the o ce up and running by August 31st summers end is the last of the worst 2011 has Bradbury says Our home o ce servers are to o er While the damage she brought was used by all 10 of our branches so when its devastating and expensive up to 20 billion out theyre all out the general consensus seems to be It could have been worse Don Balint owner of Guardian Pest Control in Essex Conn reports that Hurricane Irene had a moderate e ect on his business explaining that in the few days following her wrath 30 percent of the companys accounts were unreachable because of downed trees and power lines But we were able to return to work on the following Tuesday Balint says Because it happened on the weekend it didnt cause as many problems as it might have says Matt Nixon CEO of American Pest Management in Fulton Md Nixon says that his business was out of power for a little less than two days following Hurricane Irene and that his o ce sustained minor water damage Ryan Bradbury vice president of Viking Termite and Pest Control in Bridgewater N J was less lucky Continued on page 30 At one point Bradburys o ce was running on generators they borrowed from employees and rented from other parts of the state They even were able to procure a necessary extension cord from a nearby pizzeria We were running on a shoestring Bradbury says I kind of felt like MacGyver Where pests are concerned Balint says there might be an increase in carpenter ants even though they usually begin dying o this time of year With all of the broken trees youll have hollow spots that might release them he explains He also expects a possible increase in ladybug populations Im hoping Irenes oods wash away the stinkbugs that have been such a problem this year Nixon says Ive seen less in the few days since the hurricane Bradbury says Hurricane Irene brought the o ce together like a real family Speaking of family Bradbury was blessed with a newborn Penelope Kate on Aug 19 squarely between an earthquake and a hurricane WN 28 September 2011 Pest Management Professional mypmp net