Sunoco Houston Operations Weathers Hurricane Ike
In the early morning hours of Saturday September 13, 2008, Hurricane “Ike” became the the third most destructive hurricane to make landfall in the United States. Sunoco’s Houston Operations La Porte and Bayport plants were located directly in Ike’s path. The plants implemented their Hurricane Preparedness Plan several days earlier by securing equipment, staffing Hurricane Crews at each plant, and relocating their Emergency Operations center (EOC) to San Antonio, TX.
Communications were provided to employees through Severe Weather Action Bulletins (SWAB) and posting messages on the Employee Emergency Hotline. Once Ike made landfall, Sunoco’s SUNCALL telephone system and the Central Monitoring Facility (CMF), was used for personnel accountability and information regarding employees needs. This information was relayed to the EOC in San Antonio for processing and necessary action.
Throughout the storm, structured communications were conducted between the plants, the EOC, Sunoco’s Hurricane Recovery Team, and senior management located in Philadelphia, PA. These reports addressed current conditions, personnel accountability, employee needs, damage assessments and potential business continuity planning issues.
Sunoco provided immediate hurricane recovery assistance by:
- Bringing in gasoline tanker trucks from its Tulsa Refinery to provide gasoline to its employees and also to the cities of La Porte and Pasadena, enabling them to operate their police and emergency response vehicles;
- Delivering 150 generators to employees and contractors who were without power;
- Providing food, water, chainsaws, gas cans, and other supplies to employees in need; and
- Bringing in additional personnel to assist with damage assessments and plant startup.
Sunoco also supported the first ever Industry Emergency Response Team within the La Porte Response Center, which worked with Harris County officials. Sunoco Houston Operations was officially recognized with a proclamation by the Mayor of La Porte in appreciation for support of the community following the storm.
The plants only sustained minimum damage, many employees and contractors suffered minor damages to their homes. Unfortunately a few did lose their homes due to the storm surge.
Sunoco is extremely proud of the hard work, dedication, and resiliency of our Houston employees. Their helping spirit was truly demonstrated by their actions to help their co-workers and families, local relief organizations, and Sunoco. Others who stepped up performed were the Houston Operations Hurricane Team members, Hurricane EOC members, as well as employees at the Tulsa Refinery, Central Monitoring Facility, and the Corporate Recovery Team. |
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