The Coca-Cola System has long history of supporting and serving our local communities. This is especially true when a natural disaster strikes. During this year’s historic hurricane season, Coca-Cola supported the impacted communities through storm preparations, immediate post-storm relief, and also the long road of recovery.

The morning of Wednesday, September 16th brought more than the usual Fall sunrise to the small Alabama town of Robertsdale as Hurricane Sally delivered torrential rains and destructive winds associated with a category 4 storm.

The slower-than-usual forward motion of the storm caused catastrophic damage as it made a direct-hit, landfall in Baldwin County, Alabama. The 8-hour event resulted in the destruction of the county’s power grid, impassable roads and bridges, flooded businesses, and the loss of numerous residential structures.

Having been already actively engaged in the hurricane relief efforts in nearby Lake Charles, Louisiana the previous week the First Baptist Church in Robertsdale found itself at the epicenter of the recovery effort within their own community.

After the Storm

Two days after the storm the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency requested the services of the Church to house and feed 75 first responders who would coordinate the rescue and recovery efforts across the area. That same day the church was asked to coordinate the services of the Southern Baptist Relief Teams (SBRT) who would provide tarps to replace impacted rooftops and chainsaw crew to remove tree from homes businesses, roads, and bridges.

Without the benefit of regular, electrical power the Robertsdale FBC was able to house all of the first responders and each of the relief members while still serving more than 5,000 community meals the first weekend following the disaster. With a return of limited power and supplies the church continued to provide another 3,000 meals until September 23rd as the SBRT volunteers responded to more than 1,000 requested for service from citizens across Baldwin County.

On the Road to Recovery

Several associates from our local Robertsdale Sales Center are active members of the First Baptist Church in Robertsdale and were instrumental in the recovery efforts as well as initiating the request for the support. Coca-Cola UNITED would like to recognize our team members Jared Wiggins, Key Account Division Manager Tim Hite, Sales Operations Manager Keith Watson, Sales Center Manager, Tim Paul, Area Manager of Small Stores, Jeff Wilks, Delivery Merchandiser and Ken Tolbert, Area Manager of Large Stores.

The Coca-Cola System has long history of supporting and serving our local communities. This is especially true when a natural disaster strikes. During this year’s historic hurricane season, Coca-Cola supported the impacted communities through storm preparations, immediate post-storm relief, and also the long road of recovery.

While hurricane season has officially ended, we understand that the recovery efforts will continue for a long time. We remain committed to supporting and serving our local communities as they continue to rebuild.