Companies with local presence reach out in Ian's wake

Hurricane Ian corporate response, including among those businesses with a Southeast Missouri footprint, is noted in the wake of destruction brought by the hurricane, now a tropical storm, which moved from Florida into North and South Carolina over the weekend.

• Walmart is helping employees evacuate to safety with 400 drivers in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia activated to support recovery efforts. Walmart and Sam's Club pushed more than $23 million in additional water and disaster related merchandise ahead of the storm, including 600 truckloads of water.
• Lowe's Home Improvement has staged 30 fuel trucks in Lowe's locations in the impacted region to aid in re-entry after Ian passes. Stores in counties not directly impacted by the storm's path have received additional storm and recovery-related products — including generators, water, gas cans, sand, plywood, batteries and flashlights.
• U-Haul offered 30 days of free storage and U-Box container usage at 43 Florida locations as families evacuated.
• AT&T is waiving talk, text and date overage charges for the company's impacted postpaid and prepaid customers through Oct. 28.

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