US storm disaster: self storage lends a hand

By David on May 17th, 2011 | 1 Comment

It’s been called the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

During April, more than 300 people were killed by a deadly combination of severe storms and tornadoes which rampaged across five different states, claiming lives in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia.

One single day, Wednesday 27 April, broke the record for the most tornadoes recorded during a 24-hour period in US history, when 173 struck.

Property and the built environment also suffered extensive damage, including two nuclear power plants that had to be taken off-line. Overall, thousands of people were left homeless and more than a million lost power to their homes.

President Obama even paid a special visit to the area, in which he called the devastation “heartbreaking”.

This area contains a large number of self storage companies, many of which have sprung into action since the storms disappeared, helping to resuscitate their communities in a variety of ways.

Self storage doesn’t escape devastation

Among the many reports of self storage firms doing good deeds, one story stands out for a different reason.

In Jacksonville, North Carolina, the building that housed a company called White Oak Self Storage was completely destroyed when its roof blew off and the remaining structure collapsed under the force of the winds.

Fortunately no one was hurt, although lurking behind the devastation is a human tragedy. Its owner, Crawford Collins, admitted in an interview with local news website jdnews.com that he “just broke down and cried” upon seeing the devastation.

He had been developing the business for nearly 19 years and was looking forward to retirement, so seeing all his hard work reduced to rubble was almost more than he could bear.

Even worse, he said he then learned that his insurance policy wouldn’t cover all his repair and cleanup costs, meaning he will have to find more money from another source to get his self storage business up and running again.

Still, despite his profound sense of loss, Mr Collins managed to see the bright side of what had happened, reflecting that “the people have just been wonderful, I do have to say that. A lot of volunteers have come by offering to help.”

Self storage to the rescue in communities’ times of need

In many other areas, where self storage companies were lucky to escape the devastation, they have been able to offer help to those in need.

Self storage firms have offered their assistance in a variety of ways, although probably the most useful service they can provide is free space for people whose homes were destroyed to keep their possessions in while they get some kind of roof over their heads.

Leading the way is Greenback Self Storage in Tennessee, which turned itself into a drop-off point for donations of essential items to help the victims of the storm. According to their website, they were particularly interested in donations of clothes, blankets, towels and toiletries, to help victims retain their warmth and dignity, even if they’d been separated from everything they owned.

The national self storage giant U-Haul offered 30 days free storage to victims of storms in the affected states, although this seems more like a standard introductory offer than anything especially tailored to help them.

Extra Space self storage in Birmingham, Alabama, was more generous with what it offered, allowing victims of the storms to enjoy two months of storage rent-free, plus a bundle of moving supplies worth $50.

Coastal Mini Storage in South Carolina did even more to help, offering two months free storage, plus the use of a free moving-van for people to transport whatever belongings they’ve managed to salvage.

According to the American industry magazine Inside Self Storage, this probably represents just the tip of the iceberg, as many self storage companies have been offering their services to help their community recover, without announcing this publicly.

The number of tornadoes and tropical storms affecting the southern United States has increased rapidly in recent years, so these communities need all the help they can get.

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