Here to help for your Tropical Storm Nicholas response and recovery
Nicholas made landfall southwest of Houston as a category one hurricane on Tuesday, Sep. 14. Current projections have the storm headed toward Houston and with it the potential for rain and flooding. United Rentals will continue to support Texas and the Gulf Coast as you recover from Nicholas' effects.
How United Rentals Can Help
We hope your teams are safe. As you begin your recovery process, United Rentals is available to assist.
If any equipment is visibly damaged or has been exposed to flooding, do not attempt to start machines as doing so could pose a safety risk or further damage.
Our teams are still on standby but local branches may be affected. If your matter is urgent or you can’t reach the local team, please call our Customer Care team, available 24/7, at 844.873.4948
FAQs about the Emergency Response Team
Expand the section below for more information on the United Rentals Emergency Response Team.
Team United has always been ready to help. Through more than 20 years of natural disasters, the 9/11 attacks and now COVID-19, we’ve taken great care of our customers, communities and each other. Three years ago, we began to channel that outpouring of help through a new emergency management structure that can adapt to any circumstances.
The first step was to establish an Emergency Response Team of employee volunteers, who now number more than a thousand. The ERT became the springboard for a far-reaching emergency management structure that combines national capacity, mobility and expertise into a coordinated response.
United Rentals has become even more agile in disaster response by bringing consistency to every stage of the process.
Our structure addresses all four stages of the emergency lifecycle: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Mitigation and preparedness are a constant focus for our emergency management leaders. We can shave critical hours off hurricane response times by working through mock scenarios in advance. For instance, we ask ourselves:
If a Category 5 hurricane made landfall on the Virginia coast, how many branches would be impacted? What would be the best sequence of response? What functional experts would be needed? Where should the command post be located?
Our goal is to think through the solutions before the challenges arise.
The response for every major event starts at the highest level with our executive steering committee. The committee moves quickly to assess the situation and define the logistics of the response. From there, the plan flows to the Emergency Operations Center, or EOC.
Each disaster has its own EOC — a command post that sets up as close as safely possible to the disaster site. This is where the response and communications are coordinated. United Rentals can stand up an EOC in a matter of hours, bringing together region and district leaders and a cross-functional team of experts from human resources, legal, real estate, fleet management, technology and finance. The EOC sets the objectives and executes them.
Once the dust settles from a disaster, we use the experience to make our next response that much better. We might apply learnings from a hurricane in Florida to a wildfire in Canada — or to a coronavirus no one saw coming. The structure we designed is adaptable to every type of crisis.
We're working hard to keep you working safely.
In critical situations, having a single source provider can make all the difference. When the unexpected happens, your customers rely on you to find a solution and mitigate interruption and loss - fast. United Rentals tiene la red de sucursales y equipos más grande de Norteamérica. We’re here, and we have the assets you need to get you and your customers back on track. Whatever catastrophe strikes, whenever, we’ll help you get the job done fast.
