[/quote] Wal-Mart did all of that for the Katrina victims. And here are these "groups" of people who're calling Wal-Mart evil. Sorry, but if every Wal-Mart closed right now the unemployment rate would skyrocket and so would inflation. Shoot...Wal-Mart's an American Success Story.

Big Box Marts are also glorified barracks and quartermaster stations. You can bet they're made so that if a storm hits they can still operate and make income, so they're safe. The Wal-Marts and Targets here in Florida are ALL solar and during the daytime use skylights. Power! You have tons of goods stationed in one area with cooking facilities and storage facilities and tons of space. It's the perfect place to house people after a huge disaster. They've got plenty of bathrooms, too! And if I were a manager of one I would go down to the hardware aisle and get all the PVC pipe I could and make showers that ran off garden hose spigots on the outside of the store and use privacy tents from the camping aisle to enclose them. Sure it'd be cold, but the people would need it.

I'll quote that article...

"A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level. Make the best decision that you can with the information that's available to you at the time, and, above all, do the right thing." Wal-Mart CEO.[/quote]

A few points to place things in context:
Wal-Mart is a huge company with profits that exceed the budgets of many small nations. The total amount spent by WalMart in response to Katrina represents what they would spend in just a few prime time commercials. And was all tax deductible. If the quality of charity is based on 'giving until it hurts' Wal-Mart gave the suffering the crumbs from their table and the sweepings from the floor.

And then filmed and advertised the distribution of these crumbs. The direct aid was well coordinated with Wal-Mart ad agencies, filmed and used in commercials that followed. they spent more making and distributing these commercials than they spent on the aid. It was also well documented and packaged to be used as leverage against communities who have resisted Wal-Marts being inflicted on them. Typically local business bankruptcies double when a Wal-Mart opens and unemployment spikes.

Second, once the flood waters enter a store, particularly ones as well insured as Wal-marts, the contents are declared a total loss. As noble as it sounds that Wal-Mart was handing out supplies it didn't represent a significant financial loss. The managers and employees who took the time and made the effort get credit. But as a corporation Wal-Mart was giving up very little.

Also actions like driving bulldozers and forklifts to open doors sounds heroic but it points to simple lack of emergency planning and a lack of coordination. Planning and coordination would have had keys available. But maybe they were available. Driving a bulldozer into a storefront is much more likely to make the news. Cheap advertising for an image conscious company.

A point by point critique:
"Big Box Marts are also glorified barracks and quartermaster stations. You can bet they're made so that if a storm hits they can still operate and make income, so they're safe."

Actually no. Most Wal-Marts don't have backup generators. Those that do, generally the Supercenters with groceries and freezer sections, only have a couple of days supply of fuel and generation capacity for their refrigeration sections. Generally those generators are only marginally maintained. This is pretty common with backup generators in general. Even such places as hospitals. When the POCO power drops a lot of places with generators find out they don't work, don't work for very long, or they can't carry the required loads.

Wal-Marts are built to the same construction standards as all the other big-box stores. Nothing special. Also Wal-Marts may be more vulnerable because of the integrated inventory controls. Their cash registers require inputs from a connection to the central office. All purchases in any Wal-Mart in the US goes through this central office. In theory the manager can operate on a cash-only basis but employees are not trained in that method and the management usually balks. Until the store has power, telephone service and/or satellite connection the managers tend to want to stay closed simply because it makes accounting and inventory much easier.

"The Wal-Marts and Targets here in Florida are ALL solar and during the daytime use skylights. Power!"

Sorry but your wrong. There may be newer stores with these features but of the three stores in this area of Florida none have solar power or skylights.


"You have tons of goods stationed in one area with cooking facilities and storage facilities and tons of space. It's the perfect place to house people after a huge disaster. They've got plenty of bathrooms, too!"

Sorry to bust your bubble but that isn't going to work. The restaurants are typically all-electric. Much more power required than any rooftop solar setup will provide. Assuming they have solar panels, and they still operate after a storm, you might be able to run a couple of hot plates but cooking for 400 is pretty much out of the question.

A;so I don't know how much bathroom space your Wal-Marts have but the ones around here have very limited capacity. Typically one or two stalls, a urinal or two and a couple of sinks on the mens side and two or three stalls and a couple of sinks on the womens side. But even this capacity is going to be gone quickly. None of the Wal-Marts I have seen have any capacity for pumping their own water. They are either entirely dependent on city water or, for a few rural stores, the well runs off POCO power. Either way the water supply won't last long. And as soon as the lift stations are full those WCs are going to back up.

The Wal-Marts around here, and all the other big-box stores, were shut tight the last couple of times hurricanes got anywhere near close. They closed 12 to 24 hours ahead of the storm and remained closed for about 24 hours after. Even if they had power.

Of course it wasn't hard for Wal-Mart to look good in comparison to FEMA during Katrina. FEMA under Clinton functioned. I was there. W got into office claiming government could do no good and has spent the last seven years proving his point by making sure it didn't do any good.