Hurricane Milton relief efforts: These companies are helping affected communities

A number of companies are stepping up to assist Florida communities sitting in the path of yet another devastating hurricane by donating to relief organizations and sending essential supplies to affected areas.

Hurricane Milton, the second hurricane to slam Florida in a few week’s time, made landfall on Wednesday evening. Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida late last month before moving into Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia, and killing more than 200 people.

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These are the companies that are working to help impacted communities:

CVS Pharmacy

CVS said it’s reaching out to patients by text message, email and phone to remind them to refill and pick up prescriptions. It’s pharmacy benefit manager, Caremark, is also allowing pharmacy claims for one-time emergency refills of a 10-day supply of medication for plan members in impacted areas, the company said.

Any patients who are taking specialty medications will be contacted to discuss alternative delivery options if need be, CVS said. Patients with a scheduled vaccination will also be contacted by email or text if changes to their appointment need to be made. 

Its stores are also receiving extra emergency supplies, such as water, batteries and first aid products. CVS said its stores comply with all local evacuation orders and that if there are mandatory closures, stores will reopen as soon as they are safe to do so. 

However, if a store is closed for more than one day, CVS said the phone lines will be rerouted to a nearby open CVS Pharmacy to help patients access their prescriptions. 

Home Depot

Home Depot said it pre-positions trucks that are filled with supplies outside the hurricane strike zone so it can get in with essential products as soon as possible. To date, over 500 truckloads of essential storm prep supplies have been sent to potentially impacted areas. 

Before the storm, the company deploys priority products like generators, water, tarps, flashlights, plywood and batteries. After, its pre-staged trucks will immediately respond with recovery supplies like gas cans, generators, trash bags, cleaning supplies and chain saws, according to the company.

More than 100 employees across the company are involved in sending these essential supplies to impacted communities. 

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Its stores and parking lots will typically serve as a home base for first responders and the command center will be used as a hub for communication, so the company can respond to community needs. 

Home Depot has also committed $2 million to support disaster relief from Helene. 

Walmart

Since Hurricane Helene made landfall last month, Walmart opened up store and club parking lots across Appalachia and the Southeast to serve as charging stations and so residents can receive a hot meal and water. Many parking lots also allow storm victims to take showers and even do their laundry.

The company plans to offer the same services in parking lots across communities impacted by Milton after the storm passes. In the meantime, the company said it’s currently working to prepare employees in the path of Milton, including offering evacuation assistance to those in mandatory evacuation zones.

Sam’s Club 

Like its parent company, Walmart, Sam’s Club is also working to prepare workers in the path of the storm, including offering evacuation assistance to those in mandatory evacuation zones. 

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It is also preparing its facilities for the storms and sending in additional emergency supplies and water, the company said.

Walmart, Sam’s Club and the Walmart Foundation have already committed $10 million to support time-sensitive relief efforts across impacted communities in Georgia, Florida, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.