BASF strong

Darryl Sons is a PSM/RCMS Compliance Specialist at the Port Arthur, TX site. As the region awaited the arrival of Hurricane Harvey, he and his wife, Amy, awaited the arrival of their new baby. After a long, exhausting labor which resulted in an emergency C-section, they welcomed a happy, healthy daughter named Delilah. Due to the impending hurricane, Amy and Delilah were discharged from the hospital earlier than is typical. Despite having low iron levels and enduring a particularly painful labor, Amy was released and given just one pain pill and one iron pill. They headed home to wait out the storm. The family was home for less than 24 hours before being rescued from their front door by boat on August 30. As flood waters continued to rise throughout the area, they were again evacuated from several friends’ and family members’ homes. They were relocated to four different homes in less than 36 hours. With each relocation, Darryl’s wife and newborn daughter were exposed to potentially contaminated water, and both needed to see physicians as quickly as possible to rule out infection. Happily – thanks to the help of friends and family – they were able to see a doctor who dispelled their fears. After being displaced for nearly three weeks, the family received a trailer from BASF, which allowed them to return to their property and begin the daunting task of rebuilding their home. Darryl said that the compassion shown by BASF and the help they received from family and friends was overwhelming. “All of us in the area talked about what their plants are or aren’t doing for them, and BASF went above and beyond for its employees,” he said. Darryl has vowed to pay this generosity forward if he ever has family members or friends impacted by a storm. After learning firsthand how difficult it can be to ask for help, or even to assess how much help you need, he now says he won’t wait to be told what to do. “I’m not just going to ask if someone needs help or say ‘hey, if there’s anything I can do, just let me know.” he said. “I’m just going to show up and get to work.”

Hurricane Harvey, at nearly 280 miles in diameter, was one of the largest storms in U.S. history. It set the record for the most rainfall in a single storm, with some areas seeing 50 inches of rain in less than three days. The subsequent floods caused $125 billion in damages, tying Harvey for first place with Katrina in terms of monetary damages. Thousands of homes and countless people were affected by the storm – including many BASF employees. In spite of the destruction and anguish caused by the storm, stories of kindness and caring were plentiful. Friends and neighbors opened their homes and their hearts in an effort to begin the healing process. Supplies were sent, cleaning commenced and, for those who couldn’t be there to help, donations were made. To get a sense of what it was like to experience a storm of this magnitude, BASF Information visited Texas and spoke with several employees. Here are their stories.

Brian Fisher is a BASF Production Technician in Freeport, TX. He and his wife Laurie spent days anxiously wondering if the storm would hit them or not, after conflicting reports about its expected path. When the storm made landfall, it did, in fact, head towards their hometown. They were evacuated, and their home took on three feet of water. Nearly every material item they own was destroyed. They were able to return to their property and begin work on their home thanks, in part, to the trailer provided by BASF. During the cleanup, the Fishers received an outpouring of help and support from neighbors and friends. “It didn’t matter what position you held at BASF, everyone had their gloves on, their masks on, their goggles on – they came in and they dug up. And I know some of those guys were hurtin’,” Laurie said. “That day, we were all family. We all went through it together.” While working to clean up her house – despite wearing protective gear – a small amount of contaminated water entered Laurie’s ear, causing her to suffer from e. coli. The infection itself was incredibly painful, and the strong medications required for her recovery had numerous unpleasant side effects. In spite of the tremendous challenges they faced during this time, the Fishers’ primary emotion regarding the hurricane is gratitude: for both the generosity shown by BASF and the kindness shown by their neighbors, friends and coworkers. Laurie added that the hurricane and its aftermath were a surprising and fortunate learning experience for her. “When we lost everything,” she said, “the first thing I noticed was that I was humbled. I realized I didn’t need a lot of the stuff that I had, and it all made my life too busy. I’m actually happier after the storm because my life is more simple. Yes, we have a lot to do, and it is overwhelming, but I know we’ll get there.”

Tony Kershaw is a Maintenance Gatekeeper at the Freeport site. He has worked with Brian Fisher for several years. Tony and his family were incredibly fortunate; they endured no flooding and their home suffered no damages. But, thanks to social media, Tony knew that several coworkers and friends weren’t so lucky.

Brian posted pictures of his home before the flooding was at its worst, and Tony knew that they would need help – a lot of it.

The Fishers’ house was flooded for a total of nine days before they could get back into their neighborhood. After holding so much water for so long, they needed a tremendous amount of equipment in order to make demolition possible. First and foremost, it needed to be cooled (the temperature was very high in the days after the storm) so that people could work. BASF provided dehumidifier units, gloves, masks, water, and other equipment so that employees could get to work on their homes.

“It’s easy to stay working for a company that cares about its employees like that,” he said.

Once Tony and his family got to work in the Fishers’ home, he said, the magnitude of the situation really hit.

“When you see all the sheetrock sagging off the walls and the smell of everything is just awful, which is something you don’t pick up on TV, you feel all the helplessness. You see how really overwhelming it is,” he said. “That’s when you step up. Something kicks in and you say, we’ve got to do something here. So, you roll up your sleeves and get after it.”

Tony recruited his sons and his sons’ friends to assist with the cleanup at the Fishers’ home. Because so many people were affected by the storm, he had expected that help would be hard to come by. He was happily proven wrong.

“We had coworkers who were working from 5:30 in the morning until 5:30 at night who came by the house after work to help,” he said. In spite of their exhaustion, they were wholeheartedly committed to helping their friend and coworker. “They didn’t exactly have an easy shift, and they were still there.”

“We were trying to figure out where to take our family. We had no clue how we were going to get anywhere, we just knew we needed to get out – fast.”

— Darryl Sons

PSM/RCMS Compliance Specialist at the Port Arthur, TX site

“I hit the point when I said, let’s just do this. Let’s just get this flood over with and get back to our lives.”

— Laurie Fisher

“It’s just the right thing to do, there’s no other way to say it. You know they’re good people and that this is way beyond something they can take on themselves. So, you lend a hand.”

— Tony Kershaw

Maintenance Gatekeeper at the Freeport site