Published: April 08, 2009 01:30 pm      

Firestone Polymers suffers $30 million in Ike damges

As many homeowners found out in the middle of September, Firestone Polymers Orange Plant quickly realized flood waters from a major hurricane could be worse than high winds.

The plant took on three to six feet of storm surge which resulted in $30 million in repair costs.

The lingering salt water also led to electrical, instrumentation and mechanical damages.

Firestone Orange began bringing up steam and water systems near the end of 2008 and the first production line restarted on Jan. 23. The second line followed on Jan. 27 and the final line was brought back up on Feb. 17.

Plant officials reported the Orange plant has all of its drying lines back in operation and personnel continue to work on someo fo the back-up equipment and office buildings.

One important part of the entire process was all Firestone employees remained on the payroll throughout the recovery and startup efforts. The plant even had enough to put on teams and send out into the community to help with other recovery needs.

The Firestone Polymers Orange Plant followed their standard hurricane plan which includes securing loose items, ensuring sufficient inventory in tanks to weigh them down, moving critical mobile equipment under cover, backing up computer systems, checking ride-out team supplies, securing evacuation housing for ride-out team families, etc. Power to the plant was actually turned off due to the predicted storm surge.

The Firestone Orange Plant completed its shutdown for Hurricane Ike on the morning of September 11, 2008. The Hurricane Ride-out Team completed final plant checks during that afternoon.

Firestone left three members of its Emergency Response Team on site to monitor the plant during the storm. The rest of the ride-out team evacuated to the shelter in Mauriceville. The ride-out team attempted to return to the plant on the afternoon of the Sept. 12, 2008, but could not get in due to flooded roads. The team returned to the plant on the morning of the Sept. 13 and completed the initial assessment including verifying all stored chemicals were secure. Cleanup efforts started on the morning of the Sept. 14.