Bart Meador is vice president of operations, residential storm, with North American restoration franchise PuroClean. His team specializes in mobilizing teams when CAT events strike. 

When Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana in August 2021, and then struck the northeast U.S. as a tropical storm, approximately 50 PuroClean franchises were involved in recovery efforts.

According to data analysis from CoreLogic, insured and uninsured losses from wind, storm surge and inland flooding damages to residential and commercial properties in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are estimated to be between $27 billion and $40 billion. For the U.S. Northeast, subsequent Tropical Storm Ida caused an estimated $16 billion to $24 billion in insured and uninsured inland flood losses to residential and commercial properties. 

In this episode of Ask the Expert, Meador shares his team’s experience responding to Hurricane Ida. He shares best practices for planning, organizing, communicating, collaborating and meeting the emotional needs of customers. 

“Each storm is unique in its own way. There’s never two that are identical,” Meador said. “The one thing we look at more important than anything is: When is it safe to go in?” 

This episode covers:

• The focus of PuroClean’s residential storm division
• PuroClean’s involvement in Hurricane and Tropical Storm Ida response
• Conditions on the ground in Louisiana as well as the Northeast
• Property loss project sites that stand out
• The prevalence of wind damage in the South versus flood and mold damage in the Northeast
• Collaboration among approximately 50 PuroClean franchises in addition to Signal Restoration and other stakeholders such as tree removal businesses
• Where things stand now and what is next
• How Ida compares to all of the storms Meador has responded to during his career
• Best practices for providing CAT restoration services
• Tips on emotionally serving residents and communities impacted by CAT events
• Lessons learned from responding to Ida 

Check out this episode of Ask the Expert to learn more. You can watch the video here or listen to the audio version of our conversation here. You can also find our show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Just search for Restoration & Remediation Ask the Expert, then hit Follow.