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Prepare, Prevent, Protect: How RPM’s Houston Team Responded to a Hurricane
Our on-site and corporate facilities teams play a critical role when it comes to severe weather – before, during and after a storm. Every summer, the focus is on hurricane preparedness in many markets (the Atlantic hurricane season is June through November). Last month, a shift in the path of Hurricane Beryl changed the hurricane’s course to a direct hit on the Houston metro area - and our teams were on top of it.
“Preparation is extremely important when getting ready for a natural disaster,” says VP of Facilities Cerwin Thompson. “We start with a pre-hurricane call in May to go over hurricane preparedness – ensuring our protocols are fresh in everyone’s minds. Messaging is shared with our residents to create awareness around hurricane preparedness and what they can do to help our communities be ready. Once we know of an impending hurricane, the prep gets even more active as our teams start boarding up and securing the community, putting items away that could be a hazard and procuring necessary supplies to have on hand for the aftermath. Through it all, constant communication between our teams and residents is critical.”
Maricella Nolasco, Community Manager at Heights 2121, echoed the importance of communication and storm prep. “Once we learned of the hurricane’s trajectory, we immediately sent messages out to our residents to inform them of the shifting path of the storm and asked them to prepare for storm damage on the property. Our maintenance teams pulled in everything that could fly away, including pool furniture and lounge chairs. Our entire team was ready.”
Heights 2121 has dealt with its share of storm damage in recent months. During a thunderstorm in May, a small tornado destroyed 300 of 400 carports at the property.
For both the May tornado and Hurricane Beryl, Maricella attributes the fast action and hard work of her facilities team to help get the property cleaned up and functioning after the storms. Just one week after Hurricane Beryl, the office team was working with residents who had damage to their vehicles due to crushed carports, falling tree limbs and falling brick siding.
Just a few minutes’ drive from Heights 2121, Timbergrove Station had a similar experience with Hurricane Beryl. “We knew the storm changed direction and was coming right at us,” said Community Manager Julia King. “We sent our residents multiple messages throughout the day, keeping them up-to-date on developments.”
“It is crucial to keep in constant communication,” re-emphasized Thompson. “Everyone is looking for information and we, as a company, must provide it in real time through email, text, phone calls and even old-school flyers. This all starts after hurricane warnings are issued and lasts until we are back to normal post-hurricane.”
Timbergrove Station experienced minor siding damage, a few fallen trees and fence, and roof leaks on the top floor of the four-story midrise during the storm. “We’re thankful to our Service Manager, Enrique, and his team for their quick action to mitigate any further damage to the apartments and property,” King said.
Further southwest, The Park at Tivoli was also dealing with roof leaks, a downed fence and tree damage following the hurricane. Ty White, the property’s Community Manager who also lives on-site, said he stayed in his apartment when the hurricane came right over the top of the property. “The winds howled so loud. I also heard the local city alarms sounding. It was intense,” White recalled. Fortunately, the community of 250 townhomes had no major damage to the buildings, units or vehicles.
Overall, the RPM Houston team did exactly what they were supposed to – preparing early, preventing what damage they could once the storm path shifted and, ultimately, protecting the properties and residents (and themselves). Thompson said it best: “Severe storms are unpredictable, but our response is consistent and quick. Couple that with steady communication and resilient associates, and you have the recipe for successfully managing through a crisis.”
